So, after 36 hours and a sore wrist, I’ve played enough Guitar Hero 3 to make a reasonable assessment of the game. Granted, this review might take me a lot longer to type, because each keystroke on my fret hand feels tight. I think that’s good enough proof that I’ve given this game a fair shake.

This is the first offering by Neversoft in the Guitar Hero series, and it feels like the title’s hand change may have affected the spirit of the game. The first Guitar Hero is still my favorite for many reasons, and no matter how many cool add-ons they squeeze into future games, they are still missing a decent song selection to back it up. Yeah, Guitar Hero 3 claims to have songs from top-name bands, but when you get down to it, the game feels like its pandering to 15-year-old boys. The songs, mostly, fall into either the “new” or “classic” categories, but the “new” songs are all big radio hits that occurred within the last year, and the “classic” songs are songs anyone would know, and probably end up on a power-hour CD at some frat party. (Ex: “Paranoid”, “Sabotage”, “Rock You Like a Hurricane”, “Welcome to the Jungle”, etc.) The first game seemed to have the perfect mix of songs that were of different genres and were somewhat well-known, but not always popular, and this game has missed that.

Also, am I to believe that almost all the complicated guitar songs are metal? That seems a to ignore decades of well-made music before there was metal. While I’m happy it’s better-quality stuff, like Slayer and Iron Maiden, it seems they are pigeon-holing themselves to music kids will like. Newsflash, guys, these games will sell no matter what you put on them, so why not branch out to other genres/artists? (Though Metallica’s first GH appearance did make me a happy camper.)

The new modes are welcome additions, especially co-op Career mode. I’m also pretty excited about the online play. The boss battles were a little goofy, and left something to be desired, especially when I realized I worked all that way to beat Lou only not to be able to play “Devil Went Down to Georgia” (again, a crappy metal version of a good song) in Quickplay. Quickplay was also poorly thought out, because you select the difficulty before going into the song list, so if you are playing in a group with different skill levels, it’s another step to change it every time.

The extra elements of the game were cute, but extraneous. I liked the little vignettes, and really, anything that was done in 2d was cool. I remember reading in other reviews about how bad the band animation was, but I didn’t think it would affect my gameplay at all. Apparently I underestimated how bad, because I felt like my songs were being played by the animatronic band at Chuck E. Cheese. Looking at the lead singer’s face kind of makes me want to throw up, especially because he has a blow-up doll mouth. I think they made the leap to flashy animation waaay before they were ready.

The new guitar controller is nice, and I’m a big fan. Adding the removable neck was a good idea. I think it might have some sensitivity problems, but that also could because I’m so used to my old, beat-up PS2 guitars.

Yeah, I did buy the game though, and that’s probably all they care about. But I’ll probably buy Rock Band too, and I might even sell my copy of GH3 so I can afford to, especially because I don’t know if I could handle having 5 guitars in my house. It’s a fun game, as all Guitar Hero games are bound to be, but it certainly doesn’t hold my interest as much as the predecessors did.

As a recent journalism graduate, I was constantly confronted with the problem of what is going to happen to the traditional print media. Some scream that newspapers are on their way out thanks to the web’s popularity, but others say they, just like creatures in the wild, need to adapt to survive.

This problem is presented again in the world of video game magazines. I picked up one earlier this week and began thinking: how do they stay afloat? It’s not a stretch to say that gamers, in general, are more tech savvy than the general population and have gravitated towards web sites for their information more readily, so what additional role can the magazine hope to play?

The first problem is that gaming publications have never learned the lessons of traditional magazines; they’ve never had to compete with daily papers, so they could continue to print things on their slower news cycle uninterrupted. Of course, that was until a few years ago, when game sites popped up everywhere.

Gaming magazines seem to offer the same key elements as websites: previews, reviews, and gaming culture articles. First, lets look at reviews; gaming magazines generally come out once a month, so it could be sitting on the news stand for 3 weeks with a 3 week old game review inside of it. The instantaneous news cycle can’t be ignored, and its a wonder to me why magazines even carry reviews. They have nothing to offer that’s different.

Secondly, there are game previews, where outlets discuss what’s going to happen with an upcoming game. These could range anywhere from short pieces to long articles, but they all lack the one thing that gamers want to see when previewing a game: multimedia. Trailers, game play videos, anything. A bunch of screens aren’t going to cut it here. But, often these have a better chance standing up to the online rivals because there is more information in the text, and if the preview is well written, it may give the gamer new and different information.

Lastly, there are gaming culture articles, and this is where the gaming magazines can re-stake their claim. They need to find issue or trend stories and write them up well, and that will offer the content to keep readers turning their glossy pages instead of running to their computer. By tackling the non-traditional material, and focusing more heavily on culture and big issues in gaming, something that is rarely done well in game journalism, the magazines could evolve to be more than just pages of ads waiting to be tossed in the recycle bin.

I watched King of Kong at the Alamo Drafthouse several weeks ago, and I thought it was impressive. The movie seemed to portray a classic story of the underdog taking a stand against the powers-that-be and sticking by his guns, or in this case, his joysticks. You came out of that movie feeling that Steve Wiebe was the protagonist who simply wanted to play games, and the colossus of gaming legend Billy Mitchell and Twin Galaxies. It’s a real life story, and of course, it hooks us because it involves video games.

Wiebe was actually in attendance at the first showing I went to, attempting a high score at Donkey Kong in the lobby of the Drafthouse. He answered several of our questions, and the crowd and I all shared a similar reaction after seeing the film: Steve was awesome, and Billy was a prick. If Billy’s name was mentioned, people booed him vehemently.

But, was Billy Mitchell, with his frightening mullet and interesting fashion choices, actually a prick? Or was it some kind of manipulation of events that made us feel that way? After a second viewing, I’m not entirely sure. Beyond slightly underhanded editing techniques like playing more sinister sounding music featuring certain scenes later in the movie with Billy, is there more that we aren’t seeing?

The latest issue of EGM seems to corroborate my feelings, with their article entitled “Beating Billy.” They say that certain things about the movie don’t present the full story, and while the interviews are mostly with those who are already on Billy’s side, it may cast more doubt on the believability of the film. The movie leaves out one important detail: after Mitchell submitted a tape with his new high score, which beat Wiebe’s recently-set record, Galaxy head Walter Day immediately went to change it on the website leaderboard, but the movie does not show that the score was taken down the next day until it was proved authentic 14 months later. While it can be said that Twin Galaxies had much more support for Mitchell, the details in the movie are misleading enough at this point to call them manipulative.

All that said, the movie is still worth viewing, but only with a grain of salt. If anything, it’s an entertaining story about the strong rivalry of two incredible gamers who we can hopefully see duke it out in person in the future.

I think in this picture, I am scared of Richard Garriott’s rat tail. You can tell a lot about a person by their haircut.

Yeah, it’s a crappy photo, but the arrow makes it more helpful. Plus, ZOMG I was on the ceiling. The photos are courtesy of Zero G.

I also got to keep that awesome flight suit.

My body felt like a ton of cement and I was fixed to the spot. My arms each were filled with lead, and lifting my head was impossible. I could only stare at one spot on the ceiling, feel my heart beat and wait.

Two things happened at once: gravity disappeared, and I began to rise up from the ground, then a voice screamed “Welcome to orbit!”

Then the cabin of the Boeing 727 erupted with shouts and cheers and 30 or so blue-clad bodies began to experience the first few seconds of weightlessness.

On Thursday, two other News 8 staffers and I went on the ride of a lifetime: we went aboard the Zero G plane with game developer Richard Garriott to celebrate the launch of his new title, Tabula Rasa.  This seemed to be the closest Garriott, who owns part of the Zero Gravity Corperation, could take us to experiencing the space-like environment of his game, and it’s an experience that will stay with most for a long time.

Reporter Russell Wilde, photographer Andy Brooksbank and I arrived at the hanger at 9:30 a.m., and were greeted by many other members of the local and gaming press, as well as industry representatives, along with free breakfast. I avoided most of the food, recalling the fact that the versions of these planes used by astronauts were called the Vomit Comet for a reason. Thankfully, they would be issuing us anti-motion sickness drugs before we took off.

We suited up in flight suits, and watched a handy instructional video that warned us about the dangers of jumping and kicking during weightlessness, rules that everyone would later forget as soon as they reached zero gravity. The video also explained how zero gravity is achieved: the plane flies in what is known as a parabolic flight pattern, a series of rises and drops that allow the passengers to experience about 30 seconds of weightlessness per drop.

But enough of the pre-flight. We were ushered on to the plane, and then flown to an altitude of 32,000 feet. At that point we got out of our seats and took our places on the floor in the main part of the cabin, which was entirely covered in squishy, bouncy foam, which becomes a necessity when you didn’t make it to the bottom of the plane in time for the “We’re coming out!” call.

The trip up is uncomfortable, as you have 1.8 times normal gravity pressing down on you, but then you suddenly have the exact opposite feeling.

The first time in zero gravity was a little scary. Your brain is sending out panic alarms because the world has suddenly become this directionless place and you can’t find purchase anywhere. It’s a battle between your normal brain and your instinctual, reptile brain to make the situation out. You do kick your legs, the biggest no-no, in an effort to swim, until you realize it’s fruitless. Finally your logical brain wins and you can have fun with it.

And fun we had. I did summersaults; I spun around; I was Superman; I made a loop around the top of the bulkhead; I chased down M&Ms and globules of water we had released and ate them; I crashed in to more people than I could count; I just felt completely free.

It’s hard to even think about what you are going to do during that 30 seconds. It comes so fast, and then it’s over. And after 12 turns of zero gravity, one through the one-third gravity of Mars and two through the one-sixth normal gravity on the moon, we were done. We returned to our seats for the descent, and all the while sitting down I was just waiting for my body to start floating. It was a feeling I couldn’t shake throughout the rest of our trip home.

I think my biggest regret was being scared during the first couple of drops, and not doing as much as I dared to. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I just hope that Garriott releases another game soon and wants to fly again.

So I’ll cut to the chase: the third round was my last in the Omegathon. Quake 3 Arena killed all the girls in the competition, in fact. There isn’t enough I could do in two months to make up for the years that other people have been playing FPS games.

That said, I am not too disappointed. I had probably one of the best weekends of my life at PAX. A lot of it had to do with the cool status of being an Omeganaut and getting in everywhere, but I also met many, many cool people, and generally felt like a badass the entire weekend.

First off, Calling All Cars is still a terrible game. It was also fun to watch, and a little fun to play. I think I’d rather be playing it at home with friends than risking my trip to Tokyo, but that’s not what happened. It was put up on screen on a projector, which immediately put me at a disadvantage. The contrast was so bad for me that I couldn’t see some of the details, so I missed a few things. I was halfway through the round, and I hadn’t scored. I had pretty much accepted my defeat, but had decided to keep on trying. What I hadn’t noticed was that someone else playing on the board had also not scored a single point.

Finally, I managed to steal the criminal and made my way towards the closest entrance: the one point. Something was better than nothing, right? Due to crappy steering, I missed the entrance, and I heard the entire crowd scream “nooooooooooo!” These people were freaking out… for me? What the hell? I rallied, spun around, and grabbed that one point. I hate using cliches, but man, the crowd went wild. It was quite a feeling.

Beyond that and my terrible Quake loss, the Omegathon became more about watching other people do well. The Rock Band round was probably one of the coolest things to witness; I would have given my left arm to be on stage, but I certainly enjoyed cheering for the Photoshop Heroes and Dangling Participles.

The Halo 3 finale was also fun to watch, though it made me glad I was not in the final round. It was certainly a well-played match, and I’m really happy for Accalon. Go GNL! It definitely threw the class game theme of the final rounds out the window, but I think this Omegathon taught us not to use past year’s competitions as a benchmark.

I don’t think anything can compare to this year’s PAX for me, but there will be no doubt that I’ll be back in ‘08.

h poPlaying Jenga on stage was the closest thing to having a heart attack ever.

There is no way to calm your shaking hands, shaking legs, or quiet your heart, which is about to explode out of your chest. But somehow, you’ve got to grab the next piece and stick it on the top of the tower. I guess I was able to do that, because I’m still in the game.

The last turn was brutal; the tower was probably one of the wobbliest ever, and all the pieces were not budging from their spots. I found one block with potential, moved it halfway out, then slid it slowly back in. Too risky. I moved to the other side of the table, gently prodding all the blocks. The only one worth moving was that same block, so I slowly pulled it out. I had my back to the giant crowd that had formed, and gingerly set my block on the top of the tower.

The crowd exploded.

Two turns later, and the tower was down. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that much adrenaline in my life. I hopped off the stage, and got interviewed by the local NBC affiliate, and then Chris Kohler from Wired. I don’t even remember what I said, but apparently it was good.

The first round is Calling all Cars at 1:30, and I’m feeling ready. There is not any more prep I can do, unless I can magically learn the secret of the paddy wagon.

I think the best part of this is how much support I’ve gotten from all my friends, all the spectators, other omeganauts, even Tycho, who I talked to last night. No matter what happens today, yesterday was amazing.

I just hope I make it to the 4th round, which is def. a game that starts with Rock and ends with Band. More updates later…

So, karaoke revolution might be Guitar Hero, and if so, that’d be freakin’ awesome. I’m so much better at that; I will rock face at Guitar Hero!!

Two more days! (: I cannot believe how close it is now.

I would post more, but I’m off to play Guitar Hero Rocks the ’80s

Training is going really well. Quake is still the top concern, but last night I had the top score on our team against a team of bots. (45 kills, 4 bots on “hurt me plenty,” which is middle of five settings)

I’m no rockstar, and these are hardly scores to write home about. I’m going to be dealing with people, which aren’t nearly as stupid as bots, even ones on high difficulty settings. Still, improvements are improvements.

Tonight was Puzzle Quest with Angel, which was very helpful since I have not played with another actual human being. I was doing fine until we started doing timed rounds, and then the eight second round was a definite way to kill me. I think I need to practice that a lot more.

I downloaded a ton of pop songs and have been playing them while I play Quake 3. In theory, I’ll then be familiar with everything they can throw at me in the Karaoke Revolution round. It’s also hilarious to destroy bots along to “Genie in a Bottle.”