“Breaking Bad” 16-Bit Edition
Last month some people who I thought were my friends peer pressured me into “trying” Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad is an AMC series about a highly overqualified high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with lung cancer. With the help of a former screwup student begins cooking the worlds highest quality crystal meth in order to pay for his treatment and leave some money for his family. Insanity and amazing storytelling ensue. The show is ridiculously addictive. Next thing I knew I was nursing a three episode a night binge habit.
Just watch the damn show. You won’t regret it.
Moving on… College Humor created a 16-bit version of Breaking Bad. It comes complete with a badass 16-bit rendition of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s masterpiece Tamacun. Don’t watch this unless you’ve watched the show already… Bitch.
16-Bit Breaking Bad
Rodrigo y Gabriela’s first album with Tamacun and 8 other magnificent songs (CD) (Download)
Support Rock Vibe on Kickstarter!
Rock Vibe is basically Rock Band for the blind. A player attaches peripherals to her/his arms, and the devices vibrate when the player needs to strike a corresponding note. It’s a brilliant way to make a modern video game playable for the visually impaired.
The creators of Rock Vibe need money to get this project off the ground, as building hardware isn’t exactly a cheap endeavor. So far they’ve raised about $15,000 on Kickstarter (an incredibly cool crowd-funding site, if you haven’t seen it). Unfortunately they have not yet reached their goal of $32,000, and they only have three days left.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that one of the creators of Rock Vibe is a woman named Rupinder Dhillon who is the sister of a good friend. That doesn’t take away from how cool her project is. Hardware/ software combinations like Rock Vibe will help blind gamers now, but I have no doubt that their concept has the potential to heighten the gaming experiences of sighted gamers in the future.
Goodbye GamePro – Thanks For Teaching Me To Read
GamePro Magazine taught me to read.
Growing up my parents pretty much only purchased toys on birthdays and at the Holidays, but they would buy reading material whenever we asked. The thing was, I hated reading. I didn’t enjoy reading mostly because I had a very difficult time learning to do it. GamePro was the first written material I encountered that helped me see the immediate benefits of reading. Best of all, I could get a new one every month!
I persuaded my mom to buy me a subscription when I was in second grade, and I read every issue from then until its recent cancellation. There were times where I didn’t own any current gen consoles, and couldn’t play the games they wrote about, but I still kept and read the magazine (I’m looking at you Playstation 1 era). GamePro introduced me to geek culture and quirky writing. I discovered satire through the magazine’s April Fools LamePro editions which initially confused me, but clearly impacted me.
I thought about canceling a few times over the years, but I am a man of few rituals, and reading GamePro every month was probably the only life-long ritual I’ve ever had. I’m bummed to see it go.
Goodbye GamePro, thanks for teaching me to read.
(Via IndustryGamers)
Arm Cannon = Metal + Classic Gaming
Instrumental music (acoustic or electric) is my personal preference for work time for all of the reasons your would assume. I’ve been working a ton lately, so I’ve been listening to a lot of instrumental artists ranging from Bela Fleck, to Rodrigo y Gabriela & Jake Shimabukuro. On the geekier side, I’ve also discovered an awesome band called Arm Cannon.
Arm Cannon takes their name from Mega Man’s primary weapon, they combine metal and classic 8 & 16 bit music in creative and fun ways. There’re a lot of bands out there that do this, but Arm Cannon is my new favorite.
If you like that, consider checking out two albums; they’ve got a lot of great music.
In other news, I was off the blogging wagon for a while, but I’m back on.
Stunning Flute/Guitar Duet of Mega Man 9 Song
I’ve been listening to this Flute/Guitar Duet of Splash Woman’s song from Mega Man 9 on a loop.
FYI – For no reason the last minute minute of this song is dead air.
Enjoy!
(Via Kotaku)
Stunning Live Action “Portal” Short
Portal fans, prepare to have your mind blown.Dan Trachtenberg’s seven minute short film.
Full-length feature please… But only for science.
Why I Gave Up On Online Gaming
I truly enjoy first person shooters; 2D fighters; and real-time strategy games. I grew up playing them, and when I say I grew up playing them I mean I played them until the laser in the CD drive practically burned a hole in the disk.
I used to play so much that I could be competitive online.
That is no longer the case. I’m one of those people who has natural gaming ability (it makes up for my lack of athletic ability), but I just don’t have the time to be great anymore.
The Oatmeal perfectly captured what it’s like playing competitive online games as an adult.
(Click through to read the whole comic)
