Archive | Video Games
We’ve known for a little while now that Metallica would be releasing their own pinball machine. Metallica Pinball. If you really like Metallica and/or pinball and are looking for a good way to spend $5-7,000 you’ve just found it. But you might want to see what the game looks and plays like before forking over the cash for it. Thankfully, Stern Pinball, the company making the game, has posted a video of competitive pinball player Lyman Sheats playing the game – for 15 minutes. If you have the patience to watch all of this, you’re probably a big fan of Lulu. However, before knowing that he was a competitive player, the first thought I had is ‘wow, this game looks really easy.’ It’s pretty cool hearing Metallica’s music and voices in the game, though. For a (much more concise) look at the game from the designer, check after the jump. Read more »
We were already excited beyond words about Grand Theft Auto V , which will be coming out on September 17th. Now we’re even more psyched, as a new trailer unveiled today confirms that the game has a Juggalo in it! We’re not sure of the context, but three one-minute trailers launched today, with one for each of the game’s three protagonists. The Insane Clown Posse fan turns up in Trevor’s trailer, who seems to be the most redneck of the three characters. Will you be able to beat up a Juggalo, or maybe cut him with a hatchet? Who knows, but we’re dying to find out.
You can pre-order Grand Theft Auto Five here.
Turns out that Matt Pike isn’t the only hard rock/metal guitarist in love with Angry Birds. In fact, Slash is such an avid player that the creators hired him to record the theme song to the game’s new version of Angry Birds Space. The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist even received his own Angry Birds avatar for his work. And let’s just say Slash looks cooler as an Angry Bird than he does as a Disney character.
Slash’s new theme song can be heard when you download or update the game. Video of Slash playing a snippet of the song and discussing how it came to be can be seen above.
Welcome to Metal Insider’s video game column, What Are You Playing? This week, we speak with guitarist Jesse Liu of Chthonic.
Earlier this year, the Taiwanese metal group teamed up with Chun-Mu Mediatek to create their very own mobile app. Titled Chthonic – Rhythm Crusher, its a rhythm game that features 12 of Chthonic’s songs. As to why Chthonic, Chun Mu Mediatek’s art director Scott Chen explained to us, “We’re heavy game players and also produce games for our clients. One day we thought why not make a game for ourselves, which has the music we love? So we contacted Chthonic through their art director and friend of mine — Oink Chen, and brought our proposal to them.”
Liu took a moment to talk with us about Chthonic’s involvement with the game’s development, getting the chance to challenge fans “live battle” at Rockaholic in Tokyo on March 8, how recording for the band’s new album has been going, and (of course) what video games he has been playing as of late. Read more »
Metal and video games go together like, well, metal and video games. And in the spirit of games like Brutal Legend and Earache: Extreme Metal Racing comes Death Goat, a came coming out for Xbox Live Indie Games. The game features music from Between the Buried and Me, Holy Grail, God Forbid, and even more underground bands, like Vanisher, Lorelei, Immortal Guardian, Ovid’s Withering and Konkeror. The shooting game, in the words of their Facebook page, aims “to rip your fucking face off & replace it with the face of a goat, at which point you will bow down and thank us for replacing your ugly fucking face with that which is most METAL!”
OK, we’re game. The game, which will be coming soon, is a twin-stick shooter that features the above bands, and it looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. And hey, even if it sucks, you’ll still get a good soundtrack out of it. Check out a gameplay demo after the jump. Read more »
What Are You Playing is a weekly column about video games. Given that Powerglove is a band that combines video game music with power metal, catching up with the Boston-based band to talk about gaming was a given to happen eventually. We caught up with guitarist Chris Marchiel to discuss his earliest memory as a gamer, indie games, and a bit about the band’s next album.
What came first for you, music or video games?
Video games. I think the first time I really got hooked on video games was when I was six and that was the original [Super] Mario Brothers. It’s probably my earliest, real, defined memory is getting really mad at the first Mario Brothers and throwing the controller at the TV. I do have memories earlier than that, but that’s one of the first defined memories of getting so angry. I was playing World 1-1 of Mario and running straight into the Goomba. I was a little kid and had no idea what a video game was and I was just going forward. I knew it was bad to run into the Goomba and to die and to have the death music and start over. I knew it was negative reinforcement. I just couldn’t put it together to jump over it. I did that several times and got so pissed off, but I figured it out. So that came first. Then I guess when I was about 8 or 9 the first music I really liked, and this is funny because it’s kind of a constant with the band, is Weird Al Yankovic. We all grew up, from being very young , loving Weird Al. I got introduced from my parents to people like Dr. Demento and comedy music and stuff like that. I liked that before I liked metal , which was 12 or 13, early teenager. I had a few years of pure Weird Al before that where music was nothing but comedy. So I guess that makes some connections.
Did you listen to Dr. Demento every week?
No. I got this anniversary CD or box set of a bunch of stuff that he aired. I wouldn’t personally listen to the actual radio itself. I just absorbed it through my parents so it wasn’t that regular. Then they gave me as a Christmas or birthday present, they gave me a box set of music that included “My Bologna” by Weird Al.” It was an early Weird Al song. Then a bunch of other weird, random comedy one hit wonders and stuff like that. I remember that being the first CD that I listened to a lot.
Getting into Powerglove, had you been in other bands before?
Yeah. I’d been in lots of startup bands and fun bands and stuff like that. I tried a bunch of different styles just for fun. I’d been in bands knowing that I would only be there for six months to a year and just experiment. The people in Powerglove, I’ve known for a very long time. We were actually an original band before that so as a band we’ve been playing for about 10 years now.
When did playing video game music click?
It was something I always did by myself, warming up or learning songs. It was really Final Fantasy and Mega Man, and there’s other game music that I like and remember and have nostalgic feelings for, but Final Fantasy and Mega Man were the ones that got me actually listening to video game music. I would record on cassette tape video game music that was being played. I know some of the other guys actually did this too . We had cassette decks and would record the loop of music on a cassette and play it on like a Walkman and stuff like that. It dates myself a little bit, but that was how we started. When I was little kid, when I played Final Fantasy VI, which is Final Fantasy III in America for Super Nintendo, I would go into a battle, and if you paused it, the music would keep playing as a lower volume and I would just keep that on for unreasonable amounts of time doing my homework to it, just hang out. It must have been a two minute loop of music, just endlessly looping A-B-C, A-B-C parts over and over again. It worked. Read more »
Welcome to Metal Insider’s video game column, What Are You Playing? With High on Fire frontman Matt Pike newly sober, he’s been spending a lot of time playing video games, namely Angry Birds. We caught up with Pike to speak about his latest, more healthy, addiction, as well as the band’s addition to the Metal Alliance tour and the band’s forthcoming live album.
I read in a recent interview that you’ve been playing a lot of Angry Birds to pass the time now that you’ve cleaned up.
Yeah, it helps with my frustration. (laughter)
Had you been playing it before you cleaned up?
No. I’d been playing a lot of online poker, I play a lot of Texas Hold ‘Em, but I downloaded Angry Birds, and I have this huge phone, so it looks really cool, I have one of those Galaxy Notes. It helps me stay on the bus and gives me something to do.
Do you have different versions of the game? I know they have a Star Wars version now.
I have Seasons. I haven’t downloaded Star Wars yet. I’m trying to finish Seasons.
Do you have the original version?
Yeah, I have that one too.
Yeah, me too. I’ve been trying to get three stars on every level.
That’s what I’m doing right now.
I’d imagine on the Metal Alliance tour, you’ll be playing a lot more, as opposed to getting hammered with the other bands on the bill?
Not necessarily. I’ve found that on nights after I get done with the show and all my anxiety’s gone, I’ll take a hot shower and throw on some sweats and I’ve found I can go to the bar and watch everyone else get drunk and drink Red Bulls or Cokes. I’m pretty sociable afterwards. It’s just beforehand that’s the issue.
And I’m pretty sure that most people are pretty aware of the situation, too.
Yeah, most people know my story. If anything, if I try to have a shot, a bunch of people will yell at me. Read more »
Welcome to What Are You Playing?, a new feature where we’ll be exploring the world of video games. Each week, we’ll be asking a notable artist what game or games they’re playing. We start things off with legendary GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus, who enjoys killing Nazi Zombies in Call of Duty. We also asked him about being immortalized in the Beavis and Butt-Head video game.
We hear you play a lot of Call Of Duty, correct?
Yes it is! Absolutely correct. I’m not really so much into the campaign games. I play Nazi Zombies exclusively. There’s many zombie mods now. Tons of them come out. But there’s a series of a few that are just the Nazi Zombie ones (World At War and Black Ops). For me, killing zombies is much more satisfying when they’re in full SS regalia.
That’s it, huh?
That’s it! Honestly, my life is basically a video game. Everyone is like “What do you do for Halloween?” and I’m like ‘Well, it’s basically Halloween every fucking day when you’re in GWAR.’ And the same thing goes for our general existence. Killing zombies is no big deal, but for some reason this game really grabbed me and I’ve been fairly addicted to it ever since I first stumbled on it a couple of years ago. I’m a completely devoted Nazi Zombie slayer.
Have you played previous Call Of Duty games?
Oh yeah, I had played them before throughout the years. I really liked World At War the best, with World War II being my favorite war. Most people have things like favorite colors. I have favorite wars. I’ve always liked the game’s system and the dark humor behind it. The gore is great, it doesn’t let up. There’s attention to detail, the weapons are completely accurate. So, I was already a big fan of the game but then my friend was like “Oh, you gotta try the zombies thing. If you get to the end of the game, you get this weird level where zombies are trying to kill you.” And I was like ‘What?’ So we played through the whole thing and I was just fucking addicted to it. People are like “How do you win?” and I’m like ‘You don’t win!’ You don’t win life! Nobody gets out of here alive! Nobody wins in zombies. And what kind of victory is that for them anyway? Rotting off and being just generally miserable creatures.
Do you play online with people or just do the solo campaign?
Oh yeah, I love to play online. It’s so funny. You’ll be playing with some weirdo from Finland and he won’t have a clue that he’s playing with Oderus Urungus. Sometimes I’ll bring up GWAR in conversation and I’ll tell you, that’s a good way to get some objective criticism about your band. I’m amazed. I love playing online, it’s a great way to keep up with people. We’ll be running zombie parties and one dude will be from South Africa, another dude will be from Amsterdam, another dude will be from Antarctica and that’s me.
Do you set up times to play with certain people or do you just go in and find games?
I do both. I enjoy the random element of it, just getting in there and meeting some new people and hearing some new human gibberish. It definitely helps us as musicians to have our finger on the pulse of the temperament of the human race. And what better way to do that than to play video games with them? There’s a social aspect I really enjoy and we have our hardcore regular group as well.
I have to ask about an older game you were kind of involved with and that would be the Beavis and Butt-head game.
[laughs] Yeah that game was a real bitch! I never made it all the way through but from what I understand, fans of ours have always complained “That game is too fucking hard!” I have yet to meet anyone who actually got to the secret level where Beavis and Butt-head are in little GWAR slave outfits and me and Balsac are beating the shit out of them. All the controller does is control GWAR beating Beavis and Butt-head basically. Read more »
You’ve already heard Trent Reznor’s theme music to the latest entry in the Call of Duty franchise, soon to be dominating every console when it comes out tomorrow. And we told you over a month ago that Avenged Sevenfold wrote a new song, “Carry On,” for the game. But Metal Sucks just confirmed that not only is “Carry On,” featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, but post-credits, Avenged Sevenfold themselves have a cameo in the game as they play the song. While the band looks somewhat like themselves, the animation is a little choppy. Regardless, fans that finish the game will probably be pretty psyched to see this extra. And Avenged Sevenfold are about to increase their visibility in a very big and somewhat unconventional way.
Last year, it was announced that Mike Patton was reprising his role as The Darkness in The Darkness II. After numerous delays, the sequel to the video game series finally was released earlier this month. And to promote The Darkness II, GameSpot has premiered a video of the Faith No More/ Mr. Bungle recording his voiceover work for the game. It’s pretty cool to see Patton recording voiceovers for The Darkness II. Then again, it’s pretty hard for Patton to do something uncool.
You can watch the clip of Patton at work above. The Darkness II is now available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Fri, May 17, 2013 at 1:47 pm
Gaming, Video Games