Taking turns can be fun #14

Today, my brother and I had the two of the Norskis over, and we created a full Guitar Hero band. We took turns on each: Guitar, Bass, Drums and Microphone (why did I capitalize those words? Bad habit I guess). It was awesome!

We found how difficult it is to sing songs you don't know. First you have to make sure that the game's vocals are higher than yours...which we had, luckily. We found we could mumble, hum or blab our words and it wouldn't matter. My brother had the pleasure of singing B.Y.O.B. by System of a Down...it was priceless. ;) Surprisingly, he sang it relatively well for him not knowing the song too well. During the Guitar Hero: World Tour singing part, occasionally they will have a ad lib-singing bit. His ad lib singing consisted of, "♪Yeah♫We're System of a Down♪ and we think♫we're really cool♪yo, gnarly yo♫la la la la♪uh-huh yeah♫our band thinks we're awesome♪" It was very amusing.

Us foursome had a great time jumping around and jiving to the rock while playing. I'm pretty sure we rocked our neighborhood. Ya. For sure.

Guitar Hero: World Tour: How this game really turned-up the heat #11

So...you may be thinking, "Oh my, another Rock Band copy"; I solely disagree with that statement, although it seems true. Here are some of the ways Guitar Hero: World Tour revolutionized 4-player band playing:

1. Better quality equipment (guitar's picks are click-defining and are easier to use, drums are softer, don't bang as much, and microphone is touch-sensitive)
2. More Compatible equipment (guitars are compatible with all Guitar Hero games and ALL of the equipment is compatible with Rock Band 2)
3. Wi-Fi integration (join bands or go band vs. band online, purchase real songs, and download free songs made both by programmers and other online players)
4. Customizable rocker, instruments, and more (not a feature in Rock Band for Wii)
5. Superior training mode (segmented parts in songs so you can choose where to start)
6. Mii Freestyle mode (choose your Mii and play whatever you want!)
7. Music creation (ability to create your own music, save it, and publish it online for other players)
8. Audio level customization (bass not loud enough or vocals too loud? Raise the bass' volume and decrease singer volume if needed)
9. 86+ song track list
10. Much much more...(game is cuter, for one thing)

There you have it. I thought I'd share a little bit of some of the particularly new features on World Tour. Mainly the new dealios on their guitars.

Decals!! Guitar Hero: World Tour comes with some pretty nifty stickers. You'll also notice I borrowed some stickers from Don's Les Paul guitar. We sticker-swapped.










See the skull-flame-banner? They made a customizable band-logo type thing where you can place and banner and name your band. This banner is intended for naming your guitar. I wonder what I should name it...?


This is from the top-down starting from the Fleur de Lise-emblazoned crest, continuing down the neck of many colors and ending at the body.











Here you'll notice something:
This time, there are two rows of colored sections; One row being the traditional buttons that you play when the gems arrive at their docks down the highway. The other row is new: and optional. It's called the slider bar. With it, when special notes come up (the purple-transparent notes), you can place your finger on the corresponding section and strum. This provides ease of transistion when moving from green to red to yellow, etc. Another cool feature on the slider is you can use it as a subsitute for the strum bar: Tap on ANY section of the slider bar while holding down a button, and you've played the respectful note. Also, like the wammy bar, you can slide your finger across the entire row while holding a note to vary it's sound. It's really cool! I enjoy using the slider bar often and trying to switch from slider bar to buttons.

And here my Guitar Hero guitar is again. I wonder what I will name it...what is the weird blue light relfecting off of it?

Guitar Hero: World Tour & A Turkey Dinner make a stellar combination #10

NO WAY!! I finally purchased Guitar Hero: World Tour! Pictures: Above, my bro, Don's guitar (left) and my guitar (right) are looking pretty...rockish with their custom decals (we designed them ourselves...to each respective guitar). Below is the awesome drum set with the microphone.


After considering buying Rock Band, I waited for sometime due to financial difficulty (ha ha). Then Rock Band 2 came out and World Tour. I wasn't sure which one to choose, but after thoughtful consideration and...some Christmas money to boot, my brother and I finally bought Guitar Hero: World Tour and Another Guitar. It ended up being a hefty bill..but it was worth it (am I starting a run-out-of-money-trend? I just seem to keep losing money)! Well I've been having a bomb with that. Even Dad joined my brother and I for singing while I played lead, Don on bass and occasionally we'd switch off with the drums.

Afterward, we had our friend over, Andrew, and he helped us prepare a magnificent Turkey dinner. OH! It was so good. I ate everything on my plate and more...a rare occasion indeed. I'm finding that a warm meal is good after rocking out. I also found out that when you sit down at a table, you notice how sore your wrists can get somtimes...