Wednesday, October 26, 2011

shut up and play your guitar

i got all excited about Rockband 3 and the pro mode last year. recently i was checking out the Stratocaster that is a real guitar with built in sensors to let you play it in Rockband 3. i went to Best Buy and to see if they had it and i found this instead.

i bought it, and played nearly until my fingers bled.

it is everything i wish Guitar Hero was five years ago when i succombed to the guitar game Dark Side. you can use ANY REAL ELECTRIC GUITAR. all it takes is a special cable that plugs into the guitar and into the Xbox USB port. the cable comes with the game.

my first complaint is that when you are in Amp Mode there is a noticeable fraction of a second delay from when you strum and you hear the notes coming out of the speakers. i assume it is a delay caused by my Xbox sound going through the HDMI cable into the receiver. the game suggests getting a component audio cable to plug directly into the reciever for the sound, and use the HDMI cable solely for the video. i haven't done this yet to see if it solves the problem. i assume it will. in any case, during game play you can't detect a delay as long as you have the lag setting correct. or maybe it's just that i am so bad at guitar.

my second comlaint is that they don't have Stairway to Heaven *or* Freebird.

Monday, October 17, 2011

how to trap Godzilla

Andrew's post about protecting your home from velociraptors made me wonder what to do if Godzilla shows up. this site ought to help you out.

check out this happy customer's testimonial:

"Hey I just received my new Godzilla trap a week ago and I must say that it works great and I have already caught two godzillas. The only problem I’ve had is finding a place to relocate them and transporting cost are outrageous. Also trying to fit the trap under bridges and power lines on the way to the relocation site is quite the task. I did not have the manpower to set the trap so I bought a large excavator to set it. Anyway thanks again for the great product. " -Chesley Hayman

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Sweet Weeping Mother of Christ!

Am I bound (or maybe doomed?) to become a hardcore MMO player?

Just as I won't be able to let the Star Wars MMO go untried, I doubt I'll be able to take a pass on a Shadowrun one.