Tuesday, May 20, 2008

You Got Your Portal in My Rock Band!

Dammit, I can’t do it! I can’t get a perfect on Still Alive! /smashed guitar on the ground

I’ve come SO CLOSE, so many 99% runs due to one stupid note here or there. Not hard notes. EASY NOTES. Blitzkrieg Bop I can practically do with my eyes closed, but the sweet, sweet lullabye of the companion cube eludes me. I’m not eating. I’m not sleeping. The kitty litter needs changing. How did it come to this?

One of the countless little clips my co-workers forwarded on to me back in the day was an acoustic version of Baby Got Back. Comedy gold. That was before the first-person shooter/puzzle game Portal hit the scene. So I appreciated Jonathan Coulton back then, but had no idea what was in store.

Admittedly, I never played Portal, only experienced it vicariously, but nevertheless fell in love with the end credits song. At work we would fire up YouTube and play it regularly. Take a listen.

Now, Guitar Hero/Rock Band. Everyone knows what a revolution that was, on the level of what Nintendo did with the Wii. Harmonix is actually in my neck of the woods, and I used to work with some of those guys, so I have that extra vested interest in learning to play competently; Guitar Hero and Rock Band were staples in our company game room. Since Rock Band came out, I’m a decent medium-level guitar player, but there’s no way I’ll ever be able to do 5 keys. And drums – forget it, not even on easy. My brain just can’t process that, and I accept my mental limitations.

And then came the announcement that the Portal song was going to be available as a free download for Rock Band. ZOMG!!!! I’ve been playing it ever since. My 2 year-old can sing it practically word for word, if that’s any indication of how many times I’ve tried to get through it.

I WILL get a perfect on the Portal song, if it’s the last thing I do. Sometimes I feel like I’m actually getting worse at it, though.

2 comments:

Scott Hamilton said...

I bought Guitar Hero III instead of Rock Band, but I keep regretting that decision every time I hear about many songs you can download for Rock Band. Still Alive would be awesome to play.

Unknown said...

I'd just like the record to reflect that I am now quite able to achieve 100% on Still Alive. My sensei has decreed that I should move on to the more difficult Guitar Hero III on medium, and so far, I'm doing pretty well. But look out! Here comes Guitar Hero Aerosmith! ZOMG!