If you’ve never seen Attack of the Show on G4TV, it’s a daily news show starring Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn that features news on video games, viral videos, tech, the web, and other subjects that cater to the techies among us. If you have a geeky side, it’s a nightly show that’s certainly worth a watch.
In this video, Kevin takes to the stage to see if his expert level 98% completion behind the drum kit in Rock Band is enough practice to get him behind a real drum kit on stage with the band who recorded the track for the game.
While researching my own Holiday Gift Guide, I found that the web is littered with holiday gift guides trying to wrangle my dollars from me. I couldn’t get more than two clicks in without hitting a “guide” that wasn’t worth the 1′s and 0′s that it was printed on. Of the 100+ guides that I went through, I only came across 15 or so that were worth sharing.
If you’re like me and still haven’t started your shopping yet, maybe these will get the gift ideas flowing. I hope they help!
With the October 28th Release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock just around the corner, I figured I’d check around and see if the set list was available anywhere yet. I know I shouldn’t be trusting interwebbian rumor, but several sites are saying that the game will include some of the bands and songs that I had been hoping for in the last two versions.
According to various sources, it looks like the game is going to include tracks from The Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, Tenacious D, Slayer (!), ‘Sabbath, Weezer, Aerosmith, I. Ron Maiden, the Scorpions, and it doesn’t look like I’ll ever get Foghat out of my head.
Its rumored to include over 70 songs, half of which will be performed by the original artists. That means we shouldn’t be putting up with as many crappy Danzig covers as we did in previous versions. It’s priced about $10 higher than the Guitar Hero II, but this one is set to include a wireless guitar controller.
I don’t know about you, but every time I hear the Super Mario theme, I feel like a big nerd. It’s a theme that any gamer over a certain age can hum off the top of their heads, and when people put their efforts into playing it, I end up grinning like a dope.
And I’m not alone. Below are the results of sifting through hundreds of videos to try to find the theme played on as many instruments as possible. I ended up with 43 decent renditions, covering brass, woodwinds, string and percussion instruments. The top ten is below, and the full 44 is listed at the bottom.
Before you proceed, be warned that I claim no responsibility if the Super Mario Theme is still stuck in your head next Tuesday.
Update 4/16/08: The RC car video was added at #2, pushing “Flute (with beatboxing) out of the top 10. Technically, the list is now 45 ways.
The Top 10 Super Mario Renditions
10. High school band
The odds are extremely high that the only person in this video that was alive to play Super Mario Brothers when it came out was the teacher. And a high school band is obligatory in this type of list, anyway, isn’t it? You know it is.
9. Contrabassoon
There’s something about the sound of the contrabassoon that cracks me up. And Richard plays it for us fabulously, even though he can’t get the camera situated the way he’d like.
8. Two Electric Guitars
Two guitars. One kid. I haven’t seen anything like this since Satan unleashed his metal fury in Rock n Roll Nightmare.
7. 11 String Bass
When I form my world-conquering metal band, The Mighty Fist of Thor, this guy is getting an invite to audition. He will invariably deem the music to be below his abilities, get a PhD in Music History, and die never knowing the gratification that comes with doing twelve chicks from eleven countries at the same time in a tour bus hot tub. At least he made it to evil number six on the list though, right?
6. Balalaika (Russian folk guitar)
While this version isn’t played the most accurately, I have never seen anyone play a folk instrument with such a rock star attitude. And considering he’s playing the Super Mario Theme, I’m guessing the reason is either insanity or nuts the size of Titan. In either case, this guy is also getting an invite to the Mighty Fist of Thor auditions, assuming my agent can find his tiny village in Russia.
5. Alto sax
Notice that this kid is not only in the standard rock star stance, but he plays the song in the style of Lisa Simpson.
4. Ballpoint Pen
While not yet accepted as a standard orchestral instrument, the ballpoint pen takes slot number 3. I think my favorite part of this is the “This is just an ordinary pen” move at the beginning, as if he’s about to do some sort of remarkable magic trick with it.
3. Beer Bottles
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” Oh no? Well, it gets you famous on YouTube, now doesn’t it? Yes, and it gets you the number two slot on this list.
2. RC Car and Bottles
Take a lot of bottles, a radio controlled car, an underground garage, and the Japanese and throw them in a blender and you know that something awesome is going to be unleashed. This was a late addition that knocked “flute (with beatboxing)” off the top ten list, debuting at #2.
1. Tesla Coil
These guys jack it up to 88 miles an hour and play the Super Mario Theme with 1.21 gigawatts of power. Seriously. How can you beat that? 1.21 gigawatts!? 1.21 gigawatts!? Great Scott! the only power source capable of generating 1.21 gigawatts of electricity is… Mario.
If you haven’t gotten enough, yet, continue on. I take no responsibility for any further damage you do to your nerdy little synapses…
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