August 30, 2010

XBOX Live Price Increase

Microsoft has decided to increase the price of XBOX Live gold memberships by $10. So let's see how much consumer backlash Microsoft will get for this. As you probably already know the Playstation Network is free and is always used as a comparison. The thing people continuously forget is that Sony is still in the red after releasing the PS3. Microsoft has profited from the 360 and charging for online has helped them be profitable.

My biggest problem with the price increase is that despite all the ads that Microsoft is putting on the dashboard the prices our not dropping. The nice thing with Microsoft's price is that it is a fairly reasonable price for what we get. At $5 per month that is one third the price of a World of Warcraft subscription. Hopefully with the added revenue from this price increase Microsoft can provide us with some more moderation, because I'm pretty sure that everyone is tired of all the 10th prestige lobby spam from just playing one game of MW2.

August 14, 2010

Music Week: Day 7

This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: huge success. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction. Music week was a success and now to top it all off please enjoy Still Alive from Portal's ending credits.

August 13, 2010

Music Week: Day 6

The week is almost over but the music never stops. We have one more day left but it only gets more epic. Today's song comes from Platinum Game's 2010 (2009 for Japan) spectacle fighter for the XBOX 360 and PS3, Bayonetta. The Greatest Jubilee is from the final boss fight in this game and is one of the best boss fight songs I have heard in a long time.

August 12, 2010

Music Week: Day 5

Today's song is an orchestral remix of the Golden Axe main theme. Golden Axe is a sidescrolling hack and slash made for the arcades came out in 1989. The original music was done by David Whittaker while this orchestral remix is done by daXX. Enjoy!

August 11, 2010

Music Week: Day 4

Today's music comes from Gearbox's FPSARPG Borderlands. Now if you have even put in half the time I have into this game then you should know this song by heart due to how often they play it in the background. To the people who have yet to try out Borderlands listen to this song before you play the game, that way you don't get sick of it by the time you read this post.

Music Week: Day 3

Today's song is from Blizzard's sequel to arguably one of the greatest RTS games of all time, Starcraft 2. Please enjoy Heaven's Devils by Blizzard Entertainment.

August 9, 2010

Music Week: Day 2

To continue with this week's theme of video game music enjoy some classic, mid nineties, video game music from Command and Conquer Red Alert. Hell March by Frank Klepacki.

August 8, 2010

Music: The Most Underrated Aspect of Gaming

Video game music is considered by many to be nothing more then annoying background noise that they can't get rid of when playing games. At other times video game music is so subtle the players hardly notice it. Unfortunately, there are also times when video game music can make a game unplayable to a gamer due to the music appearing to be loud, obnoxious and a feature of the game that degrades its overall quality.

Due to these reasons video game music tends to be one of the most overlooked aspects of a game. This is a tragedy when you consider that many games have absolutely wonderful soundtracks that if given the chance will improve the game's overall experience that your own music which you're playing through nearby speakers cannot. When people who play there own music from speakers it takes away from the game as you are removing one of the mood setting aspects. Next time you are playing one of your 40 hour RPGs, turn off your music sit back and enjoy the wonderful mood setting music that already comes with your game.

Enjoy this 8 minute, epic, guitar melody tribute to the Streets of Rage music by Andy Gillion.

To download this song as an mp3 click here.