Bahamut

Damn, just looking at that list...I probably played way too many games - around 30 for the NES alone back in its heyday. What was the name of that oldschool PC Star Wars FPS btw?

Now it's time for happy New Year!

Damn it, everyone killing it this year making these threads before it hits midnight on the east coast

Where's the video of pixie & zircon singing in Rock Band? I WILL NOT BE DENIED!

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Improv Magus remix audio & pixie and zircon singing in Rock Band video will be up...the singing was hilarious though.

I found the vocals generally easy once you got the right pitch. The whole lot of us playing it did wish they picked better songs though...nobody knew all but like 2 songs for the duration we were playing.

So I got to play Rock Band during the sleepover part of the NYC meetup, and damn it was awesome. However, the vocals for some of the songs were too damn easy or felt a little cheapening, and from what I played, the guitaring looked easier than comparatively in the GH games, although I probably haven't played enough to be able to judge fully. My favorite song to do the vocals on in my limited time playing though would have to be the Boston song, where it felt a lot more natural than the others I've played. I'm definitely looking forward to get this game once I return two free 360 GH3s though and belting out the vocals.

I have to say about Symphony X, I wasn't terribly impressed with most of their pre-The Odyssey songs. I think their latest album kicks major ass though and easily is my pick of album of 2007 so far. Here's one more for the thread as I get it updated: Angra - incredible progressive/power metal band, they are brimming with quite a vision in song writing in general, especially after the vocalist change. (an instrumental display, the original song has lyrics as well)Edit: To be fair, trance isn't the most accurate classification of zircon's work for the most part - he generally has been doing big beat. However, with his latest album, it sports more trance & downtempo in it as well. I got sick of trying to recall what genre would fit the most there and just stuck him under trance. I'm sure Global Trance would be able to fix that real fast though if he saw the thread (as well as give us a dosage of more traditional trance artists to check out). Edit #2: I did say I would add suggestions but...the first song I heard "Heartache or Heartbreak" featured some off key singing, which begs the question to all, should we set some guidelines here for what should be recommended? So far most of the recommendations here have been well worth mentioning, but of course that might not always be the case.

Seeing as he's from New Rochelle, he'd have to change trains at Fordham to the New Haven line. Driving may very well be his best option.

I wouldn't recommend seeing what Multimedia 1.0 changed to...it's quite different than it used to be. The new owner jacked up prices quite some, and doesn't come off as personable as the previous owner (Defender on CAG). Also the newer store is more cramped than the old one, how that is possible, I don't know.

Oh, I misread it when I saw a mention of NES. That is true, although personally, I rarely go back to older games - there's just too many newer games that get neglected as it is.

I wasn't the only one who had issues - I knew plenty who did and they knew what they were doing. My video card was a cheap $100 ATI Radeon 9200 at the time, and probably was what was the downside (it sported a P4 2.66 Ghz CPU, 1 or 2 GB of RAM - I forget -, and other nice stuff), but I wasn't about to shell out close to as much as a console for a video card to play a game built with a ridiculous philosophy in mind. And again, I'm looking to potentially buy a computer atm that I configured (building from scratch) for $1200 that should be pretty solid for games & have the ridiculous hard drive space I crave. I miss PC gaming (& Windows oddly enough), but the cost of entry is potentially prohibitive for me atm. Piracy should not be included as a legitimate argument...especially on OCR of all places.

I was actually thinking of Air & Zero 7 last night, but I was too tired to type out everything (& I don't think I've explored those artists enough, although I loved Air's "Talisman" and some of Zero 7's stuff as well)...genre classification is my bane and yet I feel it is the best way to organize music on a computer. I'll update the thread tonight with the suggestions so far & add some more of my own.

I got it when Dell had a legendary sale (in terms of how much was discounted), and quickly after bought a video card for it. The computer has been good for most other games for a while...but games like Doom 3 were too much. Games like Half Life 2 & WoW performed greatly though.

Just the principle of DRM is what I disagree with, although I've had plenty of issues with DRM across the board (even back in the SNES era on the SNES at times). There are plenty of stories out there with issues about DRM in games such as forcing people to reinstall Windows (a more extreme example). Or a more closer to home example, the ridiculousness of not being able allowed to play Bioshock if it's your brother's copy and you have a different user name on the computer. Even worse, acceptance of these limitations has a tendency to encourage companies to go a step further, which is something that should be done without. I do know about cheap video cards - I swear by $100 ones since anything more is a bit outrageous to pay for. However, the price of keeping up with all the components to have full access to the range is quite an expense for frankly not terribly many new games I feel is worth playing - the cream of the crop for PC games tend to keep the requirements much more reasonable anyway. For example, Doom 3 when it came out - I had a desktop I paid $1400 for 7 months beforehand, and it couldn't run it past 5 frames per second. Such games are shining examples of the inexcusable philosophy amongst some game developers that make PC gaming extraordinarily expensive to keep up just to play certain games.

Shoutout to Overcoat's thread here for free music: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6241 (feel free to correct genres 'n stuff) Electronic Ambient Paul Schwartz - in particular, I would recommend his Aria & Aria 2 albums. They are home to some gorgeous ambient & trance opera. (forgive the fact that it's a link to a Sailor Moon AMV)Delerium - the unlikely side project of industrial band Front Line Assembly, this ambient & at times poppish project sports some interesting work, at times very emotive with the music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zytXVYr6Imw Trance zircon - our very own jdgfgt, his Antigravity album is a good entry point for progressive trance fans looking for some more than the stale cookiecutter untz untz http://cdbaby.com/cd/zircon3 (check the songs out from the embedded players on the left side) Trip Hop Massive Attack - the group credited with starting the genre with their Blue Lines album, which currently has grabbed me, Air - French trip hop/downtempo group, relatively low key, but they have made some pretty quality songs over the years Portishead - another one of the first trip hop groups, and probably the most recognized, definitely should be one of the first stops to check out for those curious about trip hop Downtempo Zero 7 - Big downtempo duo, they rose to fame from working on remixes of Radiohead and for consistent quality on their songs. I have not heard any negativity spoken about this group, which bodes well for a group that took advantage of the chances they got to prove themselves Chiptune virt - the famed video game music songwriter & remixer, his chiptunes exhibit a wide range of styles, and are certainly entertaining in general, especially live http://www.8bitpeoples.com/discography_gfx.php?artist=Virt#8BP071 Metal Power Metal Sonata Arctica - one of the Finnish giants of power metal at the moment, they have put out a lot of well received songs & boast of incredibly melodic based songs with a good dose of technicality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F7WG-2JX2k Symphony X - a popular progressive power metal band that has been maturing greatly with their past few efforts, this band keeps showing why it has such a strong fanbase with their music DragonForce - one of the benefactors of Youtube, this band rose to popularity almost completely on the merit of their speed. Despite being derided as the masters of one song, they have put out a few songs that merit listens http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n34o4ed9ab0 Children of Bodom - one of the biggest names of metal (& also most misclassified), their blend of harsh vocals & aggressive guitar playing is unique to the power metal genre, and has garnered CoB many fans from outside those typically found in the genre, and even those typically found in metal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUOE9wYamfg Angra - incredible progressive/power metal band, they are brimming with quite a vision in song writing in general, especially after the vocalist change. (an instrumental display, the original song has lyrics as well)Machinae Supremacy - this band deviates from traditional power metal bands in that they make use of the SID sounds to take the place of the traditional keyboard role http://www.machinaesupremacy.com/ (click 'Releases' and then 'Webography') Helloween - the most classic band in this genre, they helped lay out the abstraction lyrically that is found rooted in developed concepts, although with the more later stuff, they changed over to the more technical edge found in most of the big name power metal bands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKMZvTD78F4 Death Metal Arch Enemy - the melodic death metal band that sports a female vocalist that growls, this band takes a unique approach to the genre, and has planted itself firmly as a staple of it In Flames - probably the most famed & recognized band in the genre, this band laid down many of the standards in its works, although it has drifted away & returned to the genre in the most recent past http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ul-hqg_iPo Into Eternity - the Canadian progressive death metal band, it has the special elements that their vocalist mixes in clean vocals expected in power metal & growling typical to the genre, and deviates from the standard monotonous song structure that has stagnated much of death metal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm-RGms9Kn0 Rock Hard Rock S.S.H. - a favorite of many on OCR, this hard rock artist rearrangements video game music songs with the distinct flavor of Japanese synth rock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8S3B-8DSOI Thin Lizzy - one of the overlooked greats of the 70s & 80s, this metal & hard rock band has run the gamut with its music (although now it exists as purely a touring entity). It's a wonder why such a band that has put out this much good music hasn't been more popular http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yfkNcrNUO0 Folk Rock Splashdown - a very interesting fusion of electronic music & folk rock, not to mention featuring one of the members of Freezepop (Kasson Crooker, also the Audio Director of Harmonix). As Sinewav suggested, I'd definitely recommend grabbing the first album in the subsequent link, "Stars and Garters" http://www.sadena.com/music/splashdown/ Genre???? Shael Riley - our lovable Disk Masta Smokabitch, Shael has put out two albums in the past year or two or so, and captured much love for his catchy and random songs http://shaelriley.com/

So, I know the other one a while ago has died out, but this is something I think anyone open-minded to exploring genres would be happy for. Just list a recommendation, and the genre, and I will edit it in or under this post under the appropriate genre mentioned (or corrected), as well as potentially some neutral/positive commentary & links to some music.

I've encountered plenty, such as not being able to play my legit copy of Civilization 4 with Daemon Tools open, and heard of plenty, such as the massive outcry over it in Bioshock.

Wait...so should I even bother bringing the 360 GH2 then or no?

In a few years you will. IMO, supporting stuff like DRM & high hardware costs does not justify that. Although I have to say, I'm incredibly tempted to buy a bunch of parts for a desktop I configured for $1200 from Newegg earlier today, including stuff like a 22" LCD monitor & a 750 GB hard drive, that should run most games just fine...at least for a few years.

I already had my rape come back dinner, spending $53 at one damn restaurant (Spice Market). Hmm, that's all the way uptown...would it make sense to eat dinner up there? Keep in mind that we'll be around the east side of Manhattan, and the most convenient subway is the 4, 5, & 6 trains. We will need to get back to Grand Central, so I guess it's feasible...and you don't mean 59th right? I remember it being closer than that...Edit: Oh, I was thinking of a different store. But I do remember, for the 2005 meetup, we did go to a Guitar Center on 14th St., which we could stop by as well if people want (it's 1 1/2 blocks away from Union Square, which is where the Virgin Megastore is). Edit #2: Also, if you have cellphones, you might want to grab some cell #s, so PM people! And I hope you have a cellphone now Kroze...last time in Philly was a disaster.

Ok, so I'm quite broke atm...personally, I'd forgo a fancy dinner. So as far as I see it, we'd get lunch at some random place (East Village maybe?), stop by the Virgin Megastore, go to Chinatown Fair, and...what? One more thing would be nice to put on the itinerary before a dinner I say.

People do that with consoles too - I know plenty of cheapasses who just recently got a PS2 and are out picking up games for cheap. Now is also a great time to get an XBox or Gamecube for dirt cheap as well. Also keep in mind that such a proportion of games played most likely is that PC-only gamers tend to be more selective about games on the PC since the price you pay is generally higher for longer.

I came less than a second shy on that one, just about to get to the door, but the airplane exploded