Dare to Play the Game

Ike sucks, Rockband & Guitar Hero tracklist comparison and did I mention I hate hurricanes? – Welcome to the column that is free and there is no need to stand in line for half an hour known as Dare to Play the Game.

There wasn’t a column last week. I know, I’m sorry. I was too busy deciding what to do about Hurricane Ike. I had parts of it written last week time and time again. But I never could complete it because my heart wasn’t into it. My heart still isn’t 100% into it. You can blame it on Ike, or just hurricanes in general. I live in West Columbia, Tx; approximately 30-40 miles from Freeport, Tx. On Wednesday of last week, I evacuated from where I live. I didn’t board up the house because I had lost my pyre-locks and every Home Depot in a 50 mile radius was out of them. No, there was nothing to nail the boards to despite my boards being in great shape. However, I took what was hard to replace and did what I could to make the rest of my belongings safe from a flood situation. I could care less if I lost the carpet (I need a new one anyway), but some of the other stuff including electronics were a lot less favorable if they went under.

My girlfriend and I went to my parents in Sugar Land, Tx. They are roughly an hour mostly west / some north of where I lived. It was a newer house (by about 15 years) and supposedly safer due to the path of the storm. My girlfriend also deserves a special shout out because not only was she evacuating (and had to put up with me), she was suffering from her staples (from gall bladder surgery) being pulled out on the day we left West Columbia. That’s right; she had an appointment to have the staples taken out that day, only to have it cancelled by an absolute quack of a surgeon. So we were forced to find an ER (found one in Angleton) who was very nice to take it out. She was a trooper and a fantastic confidant in this time of need.

Anyway, the hurricane hit. As many know, massive destruction ensued. Needless to say, nobody could sleep that night as the storm raged through all parts of metro Houston. The rain slapped the windows and the world felt like it was on the verge of downfall. We wanted it to stop and for a long time it did not seem like it would. The devastation was intense and for the time, all we saw was pieces of roof and a ton of broken limbs and branches. This was just Sugar Land, the storm had hit Galveston but had affected everywhere within a 100-150 mile radius and beyond. Days passed, we regained power on our street within a day. However, so many people (even in the same city) were not so lucky. So what happened to my home in West Columbia?

This past Monday, Sarah and I got back in our car and drove back a very grave road back to West Columbia. It wasn’t permanent despite the conditions because of the limited supply of gas. The nice thing about where my parents live is that it is a mere 10-15 miles from my work as opposed to my home which is roughly 55 miles to work. So, this was a “Is my house alive?” trip. We drove for the 50+ miles and tried to look for positives on the way home. We saw some good things, we saw some awful things. We got to our subdivision and felt scared as to what we saw. Some houses were okay, however some houses were not. The very vivid image of a tree through a person’s house is something I never hope to see again, even in pictures. I got to my street, I saw a few trees lying and gripped my girlfriend’s hand tight as she did the same. I got to my house, and there it stood.

My house looked okay. There were hundreds of tree limbs and debris on the ground, but the roof was intact and there was no evidence of flooding. We later found that there were a few branches on the roof but they did not cause any damage. This was great news so far. On a whim, I tried to use the automatic garage door opener. It opened. My eyes were amazed as our little house had stood tall in the wave of disaster. The power had been restored and even the internet appeared to be working. I write this column as a thank you to everybody who has been kind during this tragedy and everybody who has helped out. Houston is a strong city and if we all bond together, we can make it through this and rebuild.

The column today will not be normal. I will keep it simple and compare some tracklists for Guitar Hero: World Tour & Rockband 2. I will also go over new releases. But unfortunately, no Morgan, no WiiWare, no XBLA until next week. Internet access is a stretch in most places still and I am away from home. However, be rest assured; if I find out Duke Nukem 3d got released this week (which it didn’t), it will be the first purchase on my Xbox Live when I get home.

Guitar Hero: World Tour

(Please note, this is my judgment on the songs due to personal taste and worth. Flames will be ignored and everybody has their own opinion). Dollar amounts range from .01 to 2.00. $.01 is basically take it or leave it. $2.00 is I would pay full price for this on DLC.

.25 • 311 – “Beautiful Disaster”
.25 • 30 Seconds To Mars – “The Kill”
01 • Airbourne – “Too Much Too Young”
2.00• The Allman Brothers Band – “Ramblin’ Man”
Oh yeah, Lord I was a Ramblin Man. One of the 5 best songs on either release, period.

.01 • Anouk – “Good God”
.01 • The Answer – “Never Too Late”
.01 • At The Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor”
It’s never too late to drive a one armed scissor through your arm while screaming “Good God”. What’s next?

2.00• Beastie Boys – “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
The best suited Beastie Boys song for Guitar Hero/Rockband. Easily one of their top three songs and will be an absolute pleasure for me to play and sing. Maybe someday, I’ll get Paul Revere.

.01 • Beatsteaks – “Hail to the Freaks”
1.50• Billy Idol – “Rebel Yell”
Great song, there are slightly better Billy Idol songs out there but I know the girlfriend will request me to sing this one many many times.

.50 • Black Label Society – “Stillborn”
.01 • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Weapon of Choice”
.10 • blink-182 – “Dammit”
Dammit, it’s blink-182. Dammit.

1.00• Blondie – “One Way or Another”
.75 • Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – “Hollywood Nights”
1.75• Bon Jovi – “Livin’ On A Prayer”
Not the best Bon Jovi song for Rockband/Guitar Hero; but a sure fire winner in anybody’s book.

.10 • Bullet For My Valentine – “Scream Aim Fire”
.10 • Coldplay – “Shiver”
1.75• Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Up Around The Bend”
1.00• The Cult – “Love Removal Machine”
CCR, instant win and gotta love the Cult. But where is Fire Woman?!

.01 • Dinosaur Jr. – “Feel The Pain”
.25 • The Doors – “Love Me Two Times”
.25 • Dream Theater – “Pull Me Under”
2.00• The Eagles – “Hotel California”
Doors, ugh shoot me. The movie was fantastic, too bad there is a fantastic Dennis Leary joke that explains Jim Morrison so very well. And there it is, the best song on either release this year: Hotel California. Too bad I put the cap at 2.00, cause I might go 3 or 4 on this one.

.01 • The Enemy – “Aggro”
.50 • Filter – “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
1.00• Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
.75 • Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
1.25• The Guess Who – “American Woman”
.01 • Hush Puppies – “You’re Gonna Say Yeah!”
.01 • Interpol – “Obstacle 1”
1.00• Jane’s Addiction – “Mountain Song”
A very cute Fleetwood Mac song, American Woman rules, and Jane’s Addiction is always nice to see.

1.50• Jimi Hendrix – “Purple Haze (Live)”
2.00• Jimi Hendrix – “The Wind Cries Mary”
.01 • Jimmy Eat World – “The Middle”
1.00• Joe Satriani – “Satch Boogie”
.01 • Kent – “Vinternoll2”
1.50• Korn – “Freak On A Leash”
The Wind Cries Mary, oh somebody up there loves me. Purple Haze is a great follow-up but loses points for being some “Live version”. Satch! (but there are much better songs). Freak on a Leash gets plenty of points, too bad the song haunts me now.

1.00• Lacuna Coil – “Our Truth”
1.75• Lenny Kravitz – “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
1.75• Linkin Park – “What I’ve Done”
.01 • The Living End – “Prisoner of Society”
Lacuna Coil is one of those underappreciated bands. So a good song here and there is good for the ole exposure. I know there are a lot of Lenny Kravitz haters out there but Are you Gonna Go My Way is an awesome song. But only if you have a chick drummer (preferably with a fro). On Linkin Park, again better songs are out there for them; but a fine choice.

1.50• Los Lobos – “La Bamba”
.01 • Lost Prophets – “Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)”
1.75• Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Sweet Home Alabama (Live)”
.01 • Mars Volta – “L’Via L’Viaquez”
.01 • MC5’s Wayne Kramer – “Kick Out The Jams”
Lalalallaalaaa LaBambba, admit it! You’re going to sing it and you are going to have a sombrero and an acoustic guitar while many pretty senoritas dance around you. Okay, maybe just in my fantasy. Sweet Home Alabama, again awesome party rock song. Though, loses just a quarter for that silly “Live” tag.

.75 • Metallica – “Trapped Under Ice”
2.00• Michael Jackson – “Beat It”
1.00• Modest Mouse – “Float On”
.50 • Motörhead – “Overkill”
.01 • Muse – “Assassin”
.01 • Negramaro – “Nuvole e Lenzuola”
1.00• Nirvana – “About a Girl (Unplugged)”
1.00• No Doubt – “Spiderwebs”
I’ll give points for an actual Metallica song, but the fact they continue to ignore the Black album pisses me off to no end. Beat it, Michael Jackson. Genius! I will be moonwalking across my family room floor. My girlfriend will be watching and laughing at me, I won’t care. Good call on the Nirvana and No Doubt songs, those will certainly see some play.

.01 • NOFX – “Soul Doubt”
.25 • Oasis – “Some Might Say”
1.75• Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train”
1.25• Ozzy Osbourne – “Mr. Crowley”
.10 • Paramore – “Misery Business”
1.00• Pat Benatar – “Heartbreaker”
.01 • R.E.M. – “The One I Love”
Owzzzzzie! Now if I can just take drugs for twenty years straight and bite some heads off animals, I might be able to reach the octaves that he does. But fantastic fun nevertheless. REM, shoot me. Shoot me. At least if you are going to do a REM song, do Man in the Moon. And if I ever see Shiny Happy people, somebody will die. I promise that.

.01 • Radio Futura – “Escuela De Calor”
.01 • Rise Against – “Re-Education Through Labor”
1.25• Sex Pistols – “Pretty Vacant”
.01 • Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
1.00• Smashing Pumpkins – “Today”
.75 • Steely Dan – “Do It Again”
2.00• Steve Miller Band – “The Joker”
The Joker!!!!!! I’m not a big Steve Miller Band fan, but that song is so infectious. Nice to see the Sex Pistols made an entry, wait what was that the lead singer said about “Selling Out”? Meh, I guess Guitar Hero and Rock Band don’t count.

.50 • Sting – “Demolition Man (Live)”
.01 • The Stone Roses – “Love Spreads”
.01 • Stuck In The Sound – “Toy Boy”
1.50• Sublime – “Santeria”
2.00• Survivor – “Eye of the Tiger”
.25 • System of a Down – “B.Y.O.B.”
1.50• Ted Nugent – “Stranglehold”
SANTERIA! One of my good friends will be a very very happy man now. I admit I am happy about this too. And then there is Eye of the Tiger. I apologize to my girlfriend in advance. It’s one of those generation gap things. (8 years difference) For all of the same reasons she just doesn’t get Karate Kid. You have no idea unless you grew up thru the Rocky years.

.01 • Ted Nugent’s Original Guitar Duel Recording
.01 • Tokio Hotel – “Monsoon”
1.00• Tool – “Parabola”
1.50• Tool – “Schism”
1.00• Tool – “Vicarious”
.25 • Trust – “Antisocial”
2.00• Van Halen – “Hot For Teacher”
1.50• Willie Nelson – “On The Road Again”
.25 • Wings – “Band on the Run”
.01 • Zakk Wylde’s Original Guitar Duel Recording
Original Duel Recordings are cool but despite what others say are not played more times than it takes to beat them. A nice trio of Tool songs, Schism gets obvious extra points. But last time I checked, aren’t they going to censor the heck out of it? *sigh* We’ll see. Hot for Teacher. Thank you thank you. Yes I’m an 80’s geek, but my David Lee Roth big sunglasses need love. A last note, Willie Nelson, genius. Wait, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Korn. Does the LE have a dimebag? I’m just asking.

Anyway, by the old tally that works up to be $62.93. Worth it for certain and I’m actually hoping that even though Rockband took the title of best music game away from Guitar Hero, that GH doesn’t fade away. This release certainly looks like a step in the right direction and while it might not be a release week purchase for me, it certainly will be purchased in the calendar year in some fashion.

Rockband 2

1.00 AC/DC – Let There Be Rock
.25 AFI – Girl’s Gone Grey
1.50 Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know
2.00 Alice in Chains – Man in the Box
2.00 Allman Brothers – Ramblin’ Man
AC/DC awesome, but there are at least half a dozen songs I would want on one of these before Let There Be Rock. Alanis Morissette is an interesting choice but honestly I’ll get a kick of my girlfriend singing that one. It’s that whole theater lyric, *whistle* Alice in Chains also rules and that is an excellent song choice as well. I need more AIC DLC for sure. Then there is Ramblin Man again. I’ll get to this at the end.

.50 Avenged Sevenfold – Almost Easy
.75 Bad Company – Shooting Star
1.00 Beastie Boys – So Whatcha Want
.25 Beck – E-Pro
.01 Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl
2.00 Billy Idol – White Wedding Pt. I
A good Beastie Boys song, but not exactly suited for these games, am I wrong in thinking so? White Wedding, the best possible Billy Idol song that can be released (unless Cradle of Love ever gets a nod). The girlfriend will be pleased.

1.00 Blondie – One Way or Another
1.00 Bob Dylan – Tangled Up in Blue
1.75 Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer
1.00 Cheap Trick – Hello There
.01 Devo – Uncontrollable Urge
.01 Dinosaur Jr. – Feel the Pain
Even more duplicates. Bob Dylan, now do I get extra points for the voice if I get it just right and sound like I have a breathing problem? I refuse to give Devo anything but the middle finger.

1.50 Disturbed – Down with the Sickness
.25 Dream Theater – Panic Attack
1.75 Duran Duran – Hungry Like the Wolf
.50 Elvis Costello – Pump It Up
1.00 Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way
Well, if I was going to include a Disturbed song then that would be it. The guitar parts should be completely sick. More 80’s love to Duran Duran. Is there an achievement in this song where I have to make out with a female tiger woman in the middle of the forest, just checking.

.75 Foo Fighters – Everlong
1.00 Guns N’ Roses – Shackler’s Revenge
.01 Interpol – PDA
1.00 Jane’s Addiction – Mountain Song
.25 Jethro Tull – Aqualung
.01 Jimmy Eat World – The Middle
1.00 Joan Jett – Bad Reputation
2.00 Journey – Anyway You Want It
Journey, ultimate karaoke make yourself look like a loser song. God, I love it. Nice to see some GNR. Now where the heck are Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Mr. Brownstone, and about half a dozen more GNR songs from the good ole days? Joan Jett, where the heck is my Lita Ford?

1.25 Judas Priest – Painkiller
1.50 Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son
.01 L7 – Pretend We’re Dead
1.00 Lacuna Coil – Our Truth
1.75 Linkin Park – One Step Closer
Yes, we have seen Carry on Wayward Son before; but I get to sing it now! *frightened looks all around*. Good song choice again for Linkin Park but again there are quite a few I’d rather see.

1.00 Lit – My Own Worst Enemy
.01 Lush – De-Luxe
.01 Mastodon – Colony of Birchmen
1.25 Megadeth – Peace Sells
.75 Metallica – Battery
.25 Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Where’d You Go
1.00 Modest Mouse – Float On
1.00 Motorhead – Ace of Spades
.50 Nirvana – Drain You
Still po’ed @ Metallica, at least it is a different song unlike others. Megadeth, “Peace Sells”, awesome but isn’t the whole album being released this week as DLC for Rockband? Where is my “Symphony of Destruction”? I think they are officially running out of Nirvana songs.

2.00 Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky
.01 Panic at the Disco – 9 in the Afternoon
1.00 Paramore – That’s What You Get
2.00 Pearl Jam – Alive
.75 Presidents of the USA – Lump
.75 Rage Against the Machine – Testify
Spirit in the Sky! *stunned look*. Yes, it’s awesome. Don’t you deny it. I only got turned onto this song recently due to a fantastic cover by Tom Cochrane. Speaking of which, where the heck is some Tom Cochrane or Red Rider? Pearl Jam, awesome choice. Anything from the Ten album gets automatic brownie points.

1.50 Ratt – Round & Round
1.00 Red Hot Chili Peppers – Give it Away
.01 Rise Against – Give it All
.01 Rush – The Trees
.01 Silversun Pickups – Lazy Eye
1.00 Smashing Pumpkins – Today
Alright, perhaps I’m the only person who liked the 80’s one they did for Guitar Hero. I need some Skid Row and quick. But Round & Round will do in the mean time. Listening to the Smashing Pumpkins song right now. I might actually be able to sing this one. I still wish for 1979 though. Also, Rush must die. I seriously do not want to see another Rush song in a GH or Rockband release until the day I die. *headache*

.25 Social Distortion – I Was Wrong
.50 Sonic Youth – Teenage Riot
1.25 Soundgarden – Spoonman
.01 Squeeze – Cool for Cats
.75 Steely Dan – Bodhitsatya
1.00 Steve Miller Band – Rock’n Me
2.00 Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
More goodness in the form of Soundgarden. Spoonman is an interesting choice and appreciated. Have I mentioned Eye of the Tiger is awesome?

1.50 System of a Down – Chop Suey
1.00 Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
1.00 Tenacious D – Master Exploder
.01 Testament – Souls of Black
1.00 The Donnas – New Kid in School
Is what Jack Black really do in Tenacious D is actually singing? But awesome song, I just need to listen to it some more. Talking Heads, who the heck do I write to thank somebody for that one? The Donnas is also appreciated. But seriously, I could name a dozen songs from their back catalog rather than this one.

.75 The Go-Go’s – We Got the Beat
.50 The Grateful Dead – Alabama Getaway
1.25 The Guess Who – American Woman
.50 The Muffs – Kids in America
1.50 The Offspring – Come Out & Play
.01 The Replacements – Alex Chilton
1.75 The Who – Pinball Wizard
Pinball Wizard!?!, *looks up, utters Thank you* Everybody knows I love me some Offspring. But where the heck did that Offspring 6-pack go off to? Must have missed that one.

Bonus tracks
.01 Abnormality – Visions
1.00 Anarchy Club – Get Clean
1.00 Bang Camaro – Night Lies
.01 Breaking Wheel – Shoulder to the Plow
.01 The Libyans – Neighborhood
.01 The Main Drag – A Gorgeous Jagged Winter
.01 Speck – Conventional Lover
.01 The Sterns – Supreme Girl
.01 That Handsome Devil – Rob the Prez-o-dent
Unless it is Anarchy Club or Bang Camaro I’m not interested. Sure, I will give them all a play, but unless they really strike like those two have, they will get hardly a play through. Okay, okay I’ll give them more consideration that that, but you get the idea.

The tally on this one comes to $66.97, giving them the slight edge. Some feel I might be a bit harsh, but in reality you have to be. This is also personal song choice. I know what gets play at my house. However, both of these releases are very good. My major beef is that there are roughly 10 songs that are duplicated on both games. Unless somebody screwed up, that’s about 5 too many. All of these artists have massive back catalogs and some checking should be required to avoid duplication. I know, I know these are the best songs or this is the song they want to promote. That’s not really an excuse. Bring the music to the people, we’ll take it any way we can get it. But we want our duplication limited, because most of us would like to buy both releases and be rewarded for that investment.

I would like to say this would be the part where I talk about WoW. But for obvious reasons, there is no WoW update this week. Actually the accounts were suspended for the time being. They happened to both run out during the hurricane and we will need to get some card time before we press on. It kinda worked out in our favor and again why I always recommend that those who play MMO’s should stick to cards and not automatic billing. Right now, Sarah and me can’t play but will return. It gives us a much needed break before we resume our questing. Lich King did get a release date. November 13th actually. Right before Thanksgiving. I think the household will be getting one limited and one standard copy. Needless to say the limited which includes an exclusive in-game pet: Frosty the baby frost wyrm will go to my sweetie. She deserves it.

Anyhow, do me a favor this week. It’s not for me, I lived through Ike to tell the tale. But if you can spare a few dollars to the United Way or especially America Red Cross (none of those scam fly by night ones though), please give. That money will go to help those hurt by Ike, the people in Galveston and neighboring cities need it. A lot of them don’t have a house or not much of one. People here are looking for ice, gas, and many other necessities to make it day by day. Help them with a few dollars, some time, or just some kind words. Take care kiddoes. Hopefully we will be back to normal by next week. At least as far as the column is concerned.

As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)