Editor's Note: Jasmine shares her vision of the future of music controllers, which makes sense on some levels but may never hit the popularity of current music games due to accessibility issues -- it's much easier to press buttons than to deform your hand and hold your fingers over some strings.

Also, we may already be part of the way there with technology like Fretlight Studio, which connects learning software with a real guitar with lighted guides. -Shoe

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Since I woke up with a selected mix of songs from Repo! The Genetic Opera stuck in my head, I thought it only fitting to write something about music. Of course I am opting yet again for the future of something -- this time the progression of our little plastic space consumers.

The musician I live with indulges his Rock Band habit regularly but does not use it as a replacement for anything he is incapable of doing in real life. He has spoken at length against those suggesting people playing music games should ultimately pick up a guitar because it is more useful in the long run. He treats the game as a game. What I wonder is, as guitars become more like real guitars and the drums have symbols, when will Rock Band and Guitar Hero enter a new phase in development?

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Compared to videogames, books are pretty boring. You don't control anything and then there's all those annoying words you have to read. Ugh. But graphic design whiz Olly Moss managed to whip up some classic-looking book covers based on popular videogames that we actually want to read. Well, sort of.

We'd rather play the games themselves, but I guess if the power went out, reading about James Bond's adventures wouldn't be all that bad. But if you're curious, like us, why Mr. Moss would marry interactive media with mental media, you just might find out if you, err, read on....

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Editor's Note: Andrew Hiscock kicks off a new series on notable podcasters with an interview with Current Gaming's Phil Kollar, he of Evil Avatar Radio, 1UP FM, and Rebel FM fame. It's an interesting read, as Kollar has plenty of thoughts on why podcasting strikes such a nerve with gamers, how Rebel FM came to be, and whether the four-dudes-talking format can evolve. -Greg

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At the time of this post, you can find over 1,000 videogame-related podcasts available for subscription through iTunes. Perhaps more than in any other hobby, videogames enthusiasts have tuned into these professional and amateur talk-show productions. Oftentimes they come from established outlets, started grudgingly by hesitant hosts only to become the crowning jewels of an online property. Other times they are the gateway for a new audience to small blogs and sites.

Why is this new medium so popular amongst videogame players? In the first of a series of interviews with notable podcasters, I speak with Phil Kollar to explore the still-young phenomenom of the videogame podcast.

Phil Kollar should be familiar to many podcast listeners. A veteran of the medium, Phil has not only hosted, but was also a creative force behind the popular podcasts Evil Avatar Radio, 1UP FM, and Rebel FM. Recently he has taken a step back from podcasts, concentrating on his new position as Online Producer for Current's Gaming section (current.com/gaming). Despite his current lack of a show, we can be sure that he hasn't left the medium for good. The erstwhile host generously offered his time and insight to answer a few questions via e-mail.

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Last week, we asked you to post your thoughts on Infamous. Many of you recalled the greatness that was Crackdown, Spider-Man 2, and Grand Theft Auto -- and it looks like you feel Infamous belongs in the same league...the league of extraordinary open-world games.

Yeah, sorry -- that was a bit cheesy. But we would like to do two things with this story: highlight the most interesting excerpts from the articles that you've submitted and prove that the world will not end if we write it "Infamous" and not "inFAMOUS."

Read on to see what the Bitmob community thought about the game, and don't forget...in a completely independent event from this article, we're coincidentally giving away two copies of Infamous in our live chat later today.

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Trying to keep up with all of the downloadable games and content that's out there these days is enough to make a person cry. But cry no more, because Download Lowdown is here to help. Each week I'll sift through the good, the bad, and the weird to help you get the most from your game system of choice without leaving your house. Plus, if you read now I'll also toss in some choice (usually less-than-helpful) quotes from folks around the Internet at absolutely no extra charge! This week I swing and miss with Real Tennis 2009, save the world with Sam & Max, go old school with Solid Snake, throw paper, and take control of a samurai toaster.

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We're back with fully-fledged CO-OP episodes (which happens when you have a season premiere, or so I'm told). We're not usually into theme shows, but thanks to the crazy random happenstance of the game-release schedule, we bring you the unintentional comparison of three games that all take very different approaches to the term "sandbox." What would happen if someone tried to play all of these at once, I wonder? Watch the video after the jump.

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Editor's Note: Daniel Taveras is still haunted by a former EGM April Fool's prank where we fake-showed a way to play as all the classic Bond actors in GoldenEye 007 via a near impossible, completely maddening time trial. We managed to piss off a LOT of readers when they found out it was all a ruse.

Was haunted, we should say. After hours of dedication, Daniel finally figured out how to make it work with the help of a GameShark Pro. Check out how he did it -- along with the video proof that we asked for -- below. Crazy, crazy stuff. -Shoe

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GoldenEye 007 was one of those life-changing things -- the kind of thing where you didn't know you needed it until it digested your soul. It was a shooter with options. Jockeying down blurry hallways with an RCP-90 and tearing up fools was almost as fun as letting an innocent scientist think I was on his side before I released a shotgun shell into his photo-rendered face.

One of the most infamous pranks in EGM's prank history involved GoldenEye in a terrible, terrible way. It fooled me and my classmates for weeks. What made it so darn believable was the instruction manual the game came with; it clearly had screenshots of the other Bonds as playable characters.

Recently I was going through old things. Why? Because when you feel like things currently are not going the way they should be, you tend to look back instead of forward. It's easy to be comfortable with the past, and there could be some real horror going forward. I decided to boot up my dusty Nintendo 64.

A while after the April Fool's prank all those years ago, I was playing with my newly acquired GameShark Pro and began learning how to really get into using it. I never was into this sort of thing before but over one summer I became a game code super nerd. I swear I could see things in the code. I was like Neo but it was before I had ever seen the Matrix so that reference means nothing to the past me. I used what knowledge I had from other similar Gameshark hacks and went systematically line by line through the code until I knew what everything meant. Once I had learned enough, I tried recreating the famous "All Bonds" (video of it in action below)....

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Editor's Note: The community podcast strikes back! Derek, Jeff, and Brett have taken the 'cast out of beta and bring us the first "official" episode. Take a listen to find out plans for the first Bitmob community meet-up next month. -Greg

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Hello Bitmobbers!

We're back with our official first episode of Pixel Revolt. Derek Lavigne, Jeff Grubb, and Brett Bates return to bring you another delve into the Bitmob community. Here's a rundown of what we have in store this week:

Section 1 - In the spirit of the Mobcast, each of us bring one community article to the table to highlight and discuss. Here are the articles we chose this week.

How To Introduce Your Significant Other to Games by Alex R. Cronk-Young

MMO Class Ideas I Hope are Never in an MMO by Scott Haveman

Forgetting How to Read by Will Gillam

Section 2 -  From there we go right into our answers to the community question "What is your favorite multiplayer gaming memory?" Thanks to everyone who submitted their answers as we got a lot of great ones this week.

Our question for next episode is going to be "What is your favorite 'Holy Crap' gaming memory?" If you want instructions on how to get involved you can go to here

To wrap up the show, we discuss the upcoming adventure Jeff and Derek are making to San Francisco, and just how much Jeff is looking forward to the Rice-a-Roni. Oh, and also we talk about the Bitmob Community Meet-Up on July 10 and the following adventure to California Extreme the next day.

Hope everyone enjoys!

Direct Download (right click save as)

 

Twitter - @pixelrevolt

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We're kinda insulted we weren't asked to participate in the Game Critics Awards best of E3 2009 picks. Don't they know who we are? Oh, they don't? Oops. Nevermind.

News Blips:

• Criticize Game Critics Awards best of E3 2009 picks. While we like to think our non-award awards are far more legit, we guess we gotta respect the 29 publications and websites that helped select Uncharted 2: Among Thieves as the Game Critics Awards best of show at this year's E3. Shame our pick, Style Savvy, wasn't even nominated, though. But what do you expect from a selection committee who chose a game where the main character sports a half-tucked t-shirt? Seriously, guys -- pitiful. [Game Critics Awards]

• Fake skateboard can also be fake other things. Sure, we'll admit the newfangled skateboard gizmo that comes with the upcoming Tony Hawk Ride looks cool, but what happens after you've had your wheel-less skateboard fix? Well, developer Robomodo says they plan to incorporate other sports with the doohickey, too. Like, say, surfing. Oh, and snowboarding. And, uh, what else can you do on that thing? Uh. Hmm. OK, we got it: Snowsurfboarding. Boom. We're geniuses. [Videogamer.com]

• Pre-order Tekken 6 and get tubular bonus. Seriously, brah -- if you pre-order Tekken 6 at GameStop, you get a code to download a cardboard tube-sporting costume for Yoshimitsu. Oh, and a calendar. But that's just paper on the 'tube. [1UP]

• Winners don't use drugs because they don't know how to make them properly. You'd think a game like Grand Theft Auto 4 would be privy to the creation of drugs, but apparently the meth recipe in the game is totally bogus. Uh, wish we knew this before we sold our shipment to the Russian mafia. Gulp. [GamePolitics]

Hit the jump for some video blips, including a 30 second role-playing game, ghost-watching on the DSi, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog berating gamers, and...more.

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We're partnering up with GameCinemaHD to bring you Off the Record, On the Rocks, a game-related party kind of thing happening tonight in Lexington, Kentucky. And since you may not be in Kentucky, we're live-steaming and live-chatting the whole deal right here. The live chat runs from 3-5 pm PST (6-8 pm EST), and we're giving away two copies of Infamous to random chat participants -- just use this format for your chatroom nickname: Bitmob_Firstname Lastname and make sure you're registered with that same name on Bitmob, because that's how we'll contact you.

The live stream runs from 2-9 pm PST and will feature such videogames as King of Fighters 12, NCAA Football 10, The Conduit, Call of Juarez 2, Fight Night Round 4, and the Uncharted 2 beta. Hit the jump for the stream/chat!

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***Update! A good one, we promise: Thanks to GCHD, we'll be giving away two copies of Infamous to the Bitmob community during our live chat later today (details below), one after an hour and the other at the end. Just use this format for your chatroom nickname: Firstname Lastname (Bitmob) so we know who you are, and we'll select two winners at random.

Also, we'll be covering these games during the show. The crew at GCHD will be on hand to show you these games and answer your questions about them:

King of Fighters 12
Fight Night Round 4
Call of Juarez 2
Uncharted 2 (beta)
NCAA Football 2010
The Conduit
***

Take a night off of Twitterbooking and join us for a live chat here on Bitmob.

We're co-hosting a gaming party/event with our buddies at Game Cinema HD this coming Tuesday, June 23. Only the party's in their home state of Kentucky, which means they get to booze it up and play unreleased games from the future in some cool bar while we booze it up at home and chat with you guys.

We'll leave up a live stream of the party with gameplay footage running throughout the day, from 5 pm to midnight EST (2 pm to 9 pm PST) on Tuesday. But for the live chat with us Bitmob editors and other Bitmob community members....

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What: Off the Record, On the Rocks (that's the name of the event)

Where: Bitmob.com

When: Tuesday, June 23, 6-8 pm EST (3-5 pm PST)

How: We'll have a live chat window open here on Bitmob.

Why: Cause you want to talk. About stuff.

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We really hope to see a lot of you here! Cause it's gonna be awfully awkward if only one of you show up, and he's surrounded by all us drunk Bitmob staffers in a chat room....
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Maybe it's something in the air, or maybe it was Brett Bates' recent story about pixel people, but I feel the need to share another slice of San Franciscan gaming randomness.

On an outing to catch a movie at the painfully empty Metreon (what the hell happened?), my gal and I took a detour to a hotel lobby on 7th Street -- no kidding -- to check out some classic pinball machines we read about in some SF magazine.

 

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Editor's Note: Brett Bates sure has an eye -- and camera lens -- for all things geeky (see his Maker Faire's photo diary). Check out the artist's gallery if you want to see some construction shots. -Shoe

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Sometimes I'm struck by just how much videogames have become a bona fide cultural institution, influencing everything from neckties to the President of the United States.

Take this sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky, installed at 555 Mission St. in San Francisco. It's constructed of 62 colorful steel figures bolted together to a height of 36 feet...and it looks like something straight out of an Atari game. Funny how we spend so much time arguing whether games are art -- it seems that the art world has already answered the question.

Check out some close-ups after the jump.

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Not every great Bitmob post ends up on the front page, and since the Mobfeed moves pretty fast, we've collected some of the highlights from the last week for your perusal. And hit that 'Read more' to see work from Robert M. F. Stoneback, Andrew Hiscock, Alex R. Cronk-Young, and Rob Savillo.

Fire Emblem vs. Valkyria Chronicles
Scott Haveman compares and contrasts these two strategy RPGs, and kind of says without saying it that Valkyria Chronicles is the spiritual successor to the classic, but now stagnant, Fire Emblem series.

How to Make Bitmob Better
Check out this post by Jon Porter and his suggestions for improving Bitmob -- and add your own to the comments section! We're listening, and new stuff is in the works.

Metacritic's 8.3333 and Why it Needs to Change
Thomas Lin rants about Metacritic (and by extension, GameRankings) and the inherent difficulty of comparing scores from outlets using different review scales. He came armed with math.

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Editor's Note: This isn't a collection of videogame music on YouTube but something far more subtle and interesting...if you have an ear for it. -Shoe

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Brett Bates' piece about an art installation in San Fransisco has inspired me to finally get around to something I've been meaning to do for a while. There have been a million pieces about videogame music. This isn't one of those.

Instead, drawing on my semi-substantial knowledge of music, I've collected a series of tunes that reveal how ingrained videogames music (of the 8- and 16-bit variety) have permeated our culture and how -- and I have no idea if the following artists even realize it -- popular music draws from the distinct sounds of these early videogames.

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With regular producer Robert Ashley out of country, we bring you this week's show thanks to the power of Skype. (As such, please be prepared for the occasional drop in volume...but it doesn't stay that way for long.) This does, however, give us a chance to catch up with some friends on the East Coast -- Shawn Elliott, Joe Fielder, and Greg Sewart. Remember them? These game-editorial-guys-turned-developers still have plenty of strong opinions they're happy to share with us, so make with the listening.

Bitmob.com - Mobcast #8:

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Three former EGMers join the regular Bitmob crew this week. HB Studios' Greg Sewart and 2K Boston's Shawn Elliott and Joe Fielder join Dan "Shoe" Hsu and Demian Linn through to the magic of Internet telephoning. They cover such topics as leaving games you love, game-journalist entitlement, videogame sequels to movies, and more!

Zune Link (must use Internet Explorer)

Direct Download (right click save as)

Subscribe via RSS

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Good to see people (other than Hanna Montana) caring about the PSP again.

News Blips:

• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars cheats on DS with PSP. Not that we really expected Rockstar's latest portable game to stay faithful -- despite pleasing many folks with its impressive touchscreen skills on the DS, Chinatown Wars couldn't muster up much of a profit. So Sony is courting the game over to the PSP to give it a second chance to sell to an audience who actually fancy murdering gangsters over solving passionate murder mysteries. [Joystiq]

• Microsoft CEO apologizes for not knowing anything about his company. So last week Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said a new Xbox will be coming out next year. Well, apparently that was his bad, as he tells IGN that he "confused the issue" with "poorly chosen words." That makes sense. Why should Ballmer know what his company is doing? That's a job for a CEO. Good thing Ballmer is just a...wait, a minute... [IGN]

• Peter Moore thinks President Obama is fat. EA Sports head honcho Peter Moore is challenging Obama to take the EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge after the President's recent comments about kiddos needing to stop playing videogames so they can be more active. Just like how our President needs to stop running our damn country so he can perform five sets of thigh-burning lunges. What a lazy leader we have. [1UP]

• Splatterhouse still needs another year of touch-up work. The development on the 3D reboot of action-horror franchise Splatterhouse isn't looking too pretty -- original developers BottleRocket were scraped off the project, only for a few choice members to come back recently to help finish it off. Well, with all this drama, it's obvious Splatterhouse will not be completed anytime soon, so look for it next year. We hope, at least. How long does it take to paint a frickin' house anyway? [GameSpot]

Hit the jump for some video blips, including combo-happy Bayonetta gameplay, love on the DS, Space Invaders magnets, and...more.

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An anonymous member would like to donate to the Bitmob community his brand-spanking-new copy of BioShock: Breaking the Mold - Developer's Edition Art Book.

From the Take-Two Store:

This 174 page, 8"x10" limited run soft cover artbook, available only on the Take-Two Store, features never-before seen art from BioShock 1, stories about the game's journey through its years of development, commentary from the team, an introduction by 2K Marin's Executive Producer Alyssa Finley, several new sections, and much more.

BioShock is cool. BioShock artwork is cool. Free stuff is cool. So if you'd like to win this sucker, just make sure you're registered on Bitmob with your real, full (first and last) name and email address, comment below, and we'll pick a winner at random next week. Contest ends June 29.

Special thanks to "anonymous member"!

Update: Contest is over. Congrats to Matt Wood for winning!

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Editor's Note: The recently-announced Max Payne 3 takes place in São Paulo, Brazil, so maybe not every game these days is set in New York. Still, Suriel makes some good points. Though I'm not yet sold on Omaha! -Demian

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I've never been to New York City, but from all of the photos, videos, games, movies, coffee mugs, etc., I think I have a pretty good idea of what it looks like.

It's a metropolis, filled with lots of great cultures and ideas. And with so many producers of media hailing from there or having lived there and grown to love its expansive urban jungle environment, it's understandable that many of our cultural influences originate from there. Both Batman and Superman live in fictionalized versions of New York City, and Spider-Man is actually from there. It's the most prolific city in the world as far as media goes, and the image of the Statue of Liberty watching over the sprawling landscape of concrete and metal was one of the most iconic images of America in my head before I moved here at the age of four (ironically, I arrived in Anaheim, CA, which is known for its own iconic, castle-based architecture).

That said, I think it's about time we take a break from NYC.

When an open-world game doesn't take place somewhere made up, it usually takes place in New York. Prototype takes place there, and Infamous takes place somewhere that's pretty much a fictional version of it, as does Grand Theft Auto 4. And I see why; NYC offers not only one of the biggest, most fleshed-out cities to wreak havoc upon, but it's also one that many people are familiar with. However, I think it's safe to say that New York's been done. If you're a developer looking for somewhere else to set your fantastic new sandbox game in, here are some wonderful new places to consider. Also, would you like to buy a timeshare?

Tokyo: Pretty much your runner up as far as familiar locations go. Most people think they know what Tokyo's like, and really, it's not too much different from that, but having all of its districts, lights, Japanese culture, and all those weird walkways would make for a pretty cool place to break some shit. Japan has plenty of other exciting, scenic places to explore outside of Tokyo, as well. Not only that, but Tokyo inhabitants should be pretty used to the idea of having their city destroyed. Plus, there's totally a giant robot there now. (More after the jump.)

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Editor's Note: Don't pity poor Sonic, the latest subject/target in Andrew's series of mockumentary game character interviews (see also: Mario, Funky Kong). Turns out Sonic really loves himself. -Demian

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For a primer on the sexual fetishism of videogame characters, the author points the audience to this segment of GFW Radio, March 27, 2007. With that, please note, you have kindly been warned.

After a harrowing path of loop-de-loops, bottomless pits, and treacherous cliffs, I'm invited into a small out of the way abode in the heart of Green Hill Zone.

His blue spikes and cocky smirk are famous worldwide, and his red shoes propel him into the kitchen to prepare us some coffee for our discussion. I am in the home of Sonic the Hedgehog, mascot, pioneer, and videogame legend.

I hang my jacket up, and before I can follow him, he reappears in the hallway. Or at least I thought it was him.

"Oh you're here are you? Come in and make yourself at home."

Confused, having already met Sonic, I make my way into the comfortable house. I'm shown to the kitchen, only to see Sonic the Hedgehog fussing with the coffeepot.

"Wow, you really are fast!" I say, genuinely impressed. "I didn't even see you pass me."

"Huh?" he says as he finishes tipping the water into the pot. "Oh, I see you've met my wife."

Confused I turn to where he is looking, and I see...Sonic the Hedgehog?

"You're married...to yourself?"

"No, I'm married to Sonic the Hedgehog."

The interview hasn't even started, and I can see that this will be an eye-opening experience.

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