On February 18th, 2013 Harmonix formally announced the end of weekly DLC tracks, ending a 275 week streak that consisted of over 4000 songs. A few weeks later, Don McLean’s “American Pie” was released as a fitting final song. Although I’ve played Rock Band less and less over the past few years, it really feels like the end of an era for me.
Harmonix started the plastic instrument revolution by releasing Guitar Hero in 2005 and Guitar Hero II in 2006 to much acclaim, but they had a grander vision of what music games could be. This vision was finally realized when they were able to unveil Rock Band in 2007. In addition to the guitar and bass, Rock Band added vocals and drums. Not only did they add them, but they allowed them to be playable at the same time by four people; you could have a faux rock band in your living room! I mean, who hasn’t at least hummed along to their favorite song or tapped their hands and feet to a beat? I remember seeing the big reveal on stage at E3, complete with Peter Moore goof-ups and all: continue reading…
It didn’t take long long after I sent the original story to Nabisco for them to reply with an email and a postal letter. Both of them detailing how my opinions are important, how they strive for high-quality products, and offering a little insight into their quality assurance process. Unfortunately, neither of them mention Nofilling by name, which I was quite disappointed by. Regardless, they enclosed a coupon to make up for it. So don’t say big companies like Nabisco don’t listen to regular people like us, because they do. I expected my slightly ridiculous letter to get lost in the sea of complaints they get, especially since it was over one Oreo. But they proved me wrong, so thank you Nabisco.
Now you may have noticed it’s been over a month since they sent me this letter. The reason in my delay was because I was performing my own high-standard quality assurance test. This time, my package of Birthday Cake Golden Oreos passed with flying (and delicious) colors!
“An End, Once And For All” from the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack. Composed by Clint Mansell and Sam Hulick, piano version arranged by Sebastian Wolff.
I performed this for the release of Citadel, Mass Effect 3′s last piece of DLC content and Commander Shepard’s last adventure in a long career. On a whim, I tweeted it to Sam Hulick who responded:
TableTop, the internet sensation hosted by Wil Wheaton, has been introducing table top games to hundreds of thousands for nearly a year now. Every other week, Wil and his ever changing gaming guests play a new game, often to hilarious results. But now it’s time to stop refreshing the Geek And Sundry channel for new episodes, and to take that gaming joy and spread it to all those around you! Announced earlier today, the event encourages gamers to simply play games and share the fun with anyone and everyone on Saturday, March 30th. Whether that means a night in around the table with some friends, or tracking down a game store for day-long festivities, there’s really no wrong way to game! The official website for TableTop Day, www.tabletopday.com, has many resources for making your gaming event a hit: banners, logos, and old TableTop episodes. The biggest and best feature is the continuously updated map, showing you events big and small all around you. Nothing close by? Bug your local gaming store to see if they’ll host an event. Or gather up some friends and host your own! Who knows, you might meet a new friend or get hooked on a new game! Still not convinced? Here’s Felicia Day with more reasons!
Despite being a gamer nearly my whole life, I didn’t make the jump into table top gaming until about a year and a half ago. At PAX Prime 2011 I got hooked on games like Cards Against Humanity, Zombie Dice, and We Didn’t Play Test This At All. Then, TableTop came along and got me into more games like Ticket To Ride, Pandemic, and Elder Signs. Naturally, I dragged my friends into this new obsession and I can never wait until our next session! I finally got to meet Wil Wheaton at PAX Prime 2012 and he was excited to hear that I’ve become a pawn in his TableTop army and was recruiting my friends to join. I had him sign a TableTop card that I had gotten from a gaming night sponsored by Geek And Sundry and Days Of Wonder. Now I try to keep it with me whenever we have a game night, to pay homage to the gamers who paved the way, to bless us with good rolls, and to remind us of Wheaton’s Law.
So wherever you may be on March 30th, I hope that you manage to play a game or two. Gaming is such a simple and enjoyable way to connect to others, there’s really no reason you shouldn’t be celebrating the fun that TableTop brings! Play more games!
