How..... Interesting?

This is mostly all conjecture on our part, based upon information gathered from publicly available sources, including emails sent by Fender to their dealers and customers, press releases, random Internet speculation, the behavior of various on-line and in-person retailers, and what the participants / non-participants (Fender, Viacom, MTV Games, Electronic Arts, Harmonix, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Best Buy, Amazon, Guitar Center, Music123, Musician's Friend, eBay, etc) have said, not said, or failed to say.    It's in some ways an interesting story in how things really work in the background.   That is, shrouded in secrecy, with little or no information on anything.    So we guess.

Why I would be an excellent husband for Amy Schumer

Not that I'm suggesting that Amy Schumer needs a husband, or even wants a husband, but if she was going to get one, here's a few reasons I would be an excellent choice.   I wasn't sure how or if to group these, and in what sort of order, and I'm still not.    So I suppose it's random.

I would never argue with her about anything.   Whatever she said would go.    Flexibility is the way to make things work, but that doesn't mean it can't be done honestly and openly.

Intelligent, funny, beautiful, sexy and more; she is so wonderful, how could I help but treat her as she deserves?     I certainly would always do so, in real and noticeable ways.   There would be no doubt in anyone's mind.

Delightful surprises and warmth and friendliness would always be in store, as appropriate and in appropriate ways.

That she's doing very well for herself is no problem, that's something to celebrate.   There's no problem with supporting somebody, and feeling guilty or jealous is silly.  Besides I have my own sources of funds, I don't need anything anyway.  (Which of course also means no problem with any sort of prenuptial agreement if she thinks it prudent to have.)   

Speaking of fame and fortune, I am an excellent source of advice on how to handle it.   I can teach calm.   She doesn't seem as if she needs it, but should it ever come up, I am there.

Massages, most people like those, and if she does, as many as she wants whenever.   Candlelight bubble baths?   Champagne on a ferris wheel?   Horseback riding in the mountains?   NASCAR?   Tell me what you like and it will happen!

The body is a temple, and I would certainly worship at hers.  Unless she wasn't comfortable with that, and then all she'd have to do is tell me what she was comfortable with and that would happen.   If I need to figure it out, I can do that too.   

Whenever we were together in those special ways, and you know they would be very special, my focus would be on her having as many  as she wanted.  First and foremost.    That's no time to be selfish!  

I know how to take care of a house, and I would find joy is making everything just so for her.   Or if she had other plans, with doing or helping with whatever she wanted to have it like.

No problem with her having long work schedules or being on the road, me there or not.    I would hope and expect because of proactive behavior on my part that she'd be looking forward to returning when I wasn't there.   It would obviously be up to her when and if I went to what and how.   

While I'm not a comedian or an actor I certainly know what's funny and what's believable.   I would (at her request of course) be a sounding board, a participant, a thoughtful reviewer, or a constructive critic.    

I know how to keep out of the way.  I can amuse myself for endless amounts of time when needed, for weeks or even months.   But I'd always be there when needed.

Well I think that's about it.   So, Ms. Schumer, if you ever have any questions of me, please don't hesitate to ask.

The RB3 Squier is out?

Officially, it's the Squier® by Fender® Stratocaster® Guitar and Controller.   Some refer to it as "The Pro Guitar" or just "the real guitar for Rock Band 3" and so on.    Calling it the SbFSGaC for short is rather unwieldy after all.

The guitar

Like many of the peripherals for the game, as described here and elsewhere, the initial availability was either non-existent or in short supply.     However, once the "RB3 Squier" became available on March 1st 2011, it was a Best Buy exclusive, for what was understood to be a month but was never officially stated in any consumer materials.   Like all things though, dates slip and a more general availability was not seen starting in April.    This has in some ways recently changed.

And in other ways, it hasn't.

The increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation.

Recognize that?   It's a definition of Global Warming.   Yes, it is obvious and clear that "the average temperature" of this planet has been increasing in the short-term.

Or as the IPCC puts it in one of their Summary for Policy Makers:

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is  now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level

If it smells, tastes and looks like it's warming up, is there any reason to try and deny it?

Ah, eBay sellers, yes.

So what is up with all these people trying to sell game manuals, DVD artwork and cases for five, ten, or twenty dollars?    Yes, no game, no DVD, just empty cases or only booklets, for perhaps $3 with $3.99 shipping and what have you?

I suppose some people might want to have a complete game or movie, but it really just seems like worthless clutter that will never sell unless somebody buys it on accident.    Perhaps to drive sales to the real products?

Well now.

I seem to be behind the curve here.  Never fear, more shall be up at some point.   I do apologize for nothing in the last 3 weeks.   Not that I'm under any illusion anyone's waiting for anything, but you know.

From time to time I'll put up random quotes or bits of news stories or what have you, like that last post.    Just something that strikes my fancy.  

I'm still working on some new material, never fear.  (Or be very afraid, such as the case may be.)

"The fervent activity of these sites often generates a confusing web of backstabbing, claims of misinformation and Internet alliances. It's almost like an underground game-within-a-game of 'Survivor' that plays out with the melodrama of a daytime soap and the complexity of Dungeons and Dragons. Outwit, outplay, outlast. It happens more than just on the air."

It might not be too good of an idea to do that.

After that last set of posts, it's time to change the subject to something more interesting, or at least hopefully more interesting.    This post rather relates to an earlier post in a way, just something to think about.   Is showing too much skin a virtual (fictional) death sentence?  Is there some sort of social comment being made in linking partial nudity to being killed?  After all, so much of the rest of everything is analogy and social commentary.   A wry look at mores and human emotions.   Allegory for life and its experiences.

Part 4: Who to blame and why

Have you seen me?

At one point, the rhythm games were huge sellers, with millions of game players honing their skills, their rhythm and their coordination.    Of course, things slow down.   Then there's the difference between the parts here.  There are the people coding the games, the people making the hardware, and the people publishing the games.   In the end, what sells, and how, and when it's available, and how much it costs depends on how many people buy the games, which relies (or can rely) upon marketing.     Marketing has different focuses of course, and there is competition.    It should go without saying that not everyone is particularly good at doing every aspect of this, and part of the process involves capacity planning and gauging the desires of the customers.   It's a rough business.

Part 3: The missed opportunity.

Worldwide there are millions of game players, there are millions of musicians and more importantly, there are millions of people (many of them that play games) who want to play or learn how to play something.   Given the addition of keyboards and pro modes for drums, keys, guitar and bass to Rock Band 3, here was the perfect opportunity to market to all those people, especially the people who had been playing the rhythm games and wanted something more.   Wanted something more realistic.  Hence, the advanced guitar controller, the Mad Catz Fender Mustang.

A good first step, a bunch of buttons up top and string-like things at the bottom.

Yet, in general, it's all been strangely silent in the mainstream, but perhaps that's just because it's not all ready right now.   However, there also doesn't seem to be an understanding of the possibilities.   An underestimation to gross miscalculation of the potential here.  So on to the Rock Band 3 Squier by Fender Stratocaster Guitar Controller.

Yes, it's a real guitar.   You have to wait until March 2011 though. 

Heard of it?   You might have.   Imagine what you could do with one and this game, or even better, some learning software.  Although if you want to play bass, hope you have small fingers; there are no plans for a bass version of the above.

That is correct, I did say no bass version.  Rather shortsighted, but there you have it. So you'd have to play  bass on that guitar, whenever it's generally available; scheduled for March.

MIDI or amp out, and real strings,  too.

However, since all you can do is pre-order (from Best Buy only) for the time being, let's go over to the drums again.

Currently, there are many people using e-drums/v-drums ranging in price from hundreds to thousands of dollars either directly into these games (products such as the Ion Rocker) or by another adapter into games (using custom hardware or the Guitar Hero World Tour drum set).

Still as mentioned last part, the games previous to this are limited to what they offer.  In this case for the drums, that would be on the charts for the game.  Either 4 lanes/bass drum or 5 lanes/bass drum/dual bass drum, depending on the game and the equipment.    No such alternative existed for either keyboards or stringed instruments (guitar/bass) except in a limited way through home made hobbyist equipment if at all.


So one could make the case that even before  Rock Band 3 came out, large numbers of people realized there would be a huge demand for two things that use the one thing.

1.  Existing MIDI keyboards and drum sets to the adapter.
2.  The real guitar (with sensors and MIDI) to the adapter.

That is aside and apart from the console specific drum, keyboard and guitar controllers for the game available (or not) separately.

Sadly, that large number of people doesn't appear to include apologists or the people marketing the game.   At first, the only equipment available was the game-quality stripped down console-specific game keyboard and drum set.   The same goes for the advanced guitar controller, which has also been in short supply.  The real guitar isn't out until March,  months after release of the software.

So, no, since the release of the game in October 2010, the situation has not been a smooth one.  Many players have no desire to buy yet another controller for guitar or drums, and if you had a $600 set of drums or $200 keyboard already, or planned on getting a $280 guitar for the game, you might not want to either.


Lastly, part 4 will go over the reasons and the responsible parties.

Part 2: The hardware.

For a number of years, games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band have used instrument-like controllers or stripped-down versions of electronic instruments to mimic playing music.

Explorer, Keytar, 4-String Electric Bass

Rock Band 3 attempted to do something different.    There are game-specific drums and keyboard controllers that let you actually play music, in time with the game's screen or not.   There is also a sort-of guitar/bass that does the same thing.

The difference this time is that the drum pads and cymbals, stringed instrument, or (new to this game)  keyboard keys either more closely or almost exactly mimic the actual songs.   However, that's only available from the game and platform specific controllers, both of which are still game controllers and thus have certain limitations.  

To use the drums as an example, originally (depending on the game and hardware) there were four pads and a pedal.   The pedal did the bass drum, the red pad the snare, the green pad the floor tom, and the yellow and blue pads the cymbals.  However the yellow, blue and green pads change, and could be toms (floor, hi-mid, low-mid) or cymbals (crash, ride, hi-hat).  They moved around in function not just between songs, but within them. 

Playing the first set is not simple, but it's certainly easier.

For Rock Band 3,  more modes have been added.  For many songs, there are separate discrete actual pads/cymbals assigned to the actual sounds and item being played, if you have the set that does it.   You can get a more advanced version of the first set above that's more like the second set above, allowing you to access these additional modes.

It's almost like real drums!

However, with a platform-specific game drum set (keyboard, string controller) you're still on a game controller and one that only works with a single console.  Unless it has MIDI out, it will only work with a console, and only in software that recognizes it correctly.   It's limited as to how it can be changed or repaired without (often expensive) specific third-party hardware or modifications.

Enter the mystery box shown earlier, retailing for $40 for each console.   It converts the output of an actual MIDI instrument (that can be played on its own as well) to something the game understands.

MIDI interface

It allows you to use any compatible instrument with the game, said instrument also being usable outside the game.    Aside from the obvious, why exactly is that a big deal?   In part 3 we'll discuss just that, and more.

Part 1: The item that isn't there.

Here's what the Mad Catz MIDI pro adapter for Rock Band 3 on the XBOX 360 looks like:

The naked and the nude

Often some TV show or another will be able to or be expected to show some nudity, but not really. Often it seems the people making such shows have no idea what they're doing, they just want to or have to throw some nudity in.  In such cases, it's going to be under certain constraints, aside from the obvious broadcast versus cable rules.   There won't be any reproductive parts and there won't be any hair covering such parts.    In the rare cases there are either of those (when they're even allowed) the situation will be somewhat-to-very shocking and almost certainly not erotic.   The longer any such situation goes on, the more certain it will not be at all what most people would consider sexy.   Odds are, males will be involved.

You can expect that if bare chests are shown, they will be male.  If they are female, the operational part will generally not be present.   However, should there be female projections on the ends by which fluid is delivered, they will be shown either fleetingly, in modified subdued light, or from odd angles.   The only alternative will be that if they are shown clearly, it will be brazen.   The opportunity to show them will be milked for all that it's worth, so to speak. However, it will also likely not be anything appealing to prurient interests.

Then there's the old standby, man derriere.   I think they call that gratuitous.   There will be a shocking and brazen display of the area between the legs and lower torso from the back.   That it will be male, and that it will not be glamorous, both are almost always true.

Now what is the most interesting is when the attempt is made to show as much as possible without showing anything.   In this case, the covering will be elaborate, and will almost certainly draw the viewer's attention away from everything else that's happening just like those italics do.      Likely, drawing all attention to the elaborate covering will not be by design, but rather by ineptitude.   Likely, this will be a woman in bed, frequently she will be talking to a man wearing no shirt.   He'll be wearing pants, although frequently his lower half will be off camera.    Whichever, the conversation will be hard to follow, as the viewer is distracted by the sheets or comforter hiding some or all of the woman, who is assumed to be wearing nothing.   

In the above situation,  often the camera work is somewhat sloppy, and whatever skin-tone clothing or covering the actress is actually wearing or has blocking things (like a taped on plastic cover) will become visible for some amount of time, even if it's momentary.    Since the viewer's attention has been drawn to the attempt to hide it all, it's often quite easy to spot.  

No, not quite as bad as having a boom mic in the shot, or seeing a 2004 vehicle in a World War I movie.  About the same as seeing the contrast and coloration difference between inside the truck and outside the window, pistols that have no weight and no recoil, hand-held weapons that sound like cannons, or getting that outline in front of the blue screen or green screen.

Most people never notice these sorts of things, but they're there.   Business as usual, not a big deal.

Well, right back at you Quentin. I guess.

I'm assuming here that the readers have either seen the movie, or never will and never want to.   Some of this is more vague depending on if the reader has seen the movie or not.   I suppose this could be used as a viewing guide, as if.

Will he or won't he

Given the movie within a movie within a movie (or whatever it was supposed to be) aspect of Inglourious Basterds and how that all worked out, the entire story just seems to be a big FkU to somebody.   Since various industry institutions and what have you nominated it for this and that award and another, I have to assume the sentiment was directed at us, the viewers.     Although it might not be the case, and the sentiment is directed within.   Maybe it's cool to slam the powers-that-be.  Perhaps they're just that naïve and don't know.  Perhaps a movie maker doing such things is considered humorous to them.   


It could be that my genius just doesn't understand Quentin Tarantino's genius.  After all, we have a lot of the same influences, so it might be that I just don't like the way he's implemented them.   We could ask how many times we need to see a standoff end quickly, or in this case, a number of overly long boring drawn out standoffs end in seconds or fractions of a second.  

This party might last a while

Here we have a movie that spends inordinate lengths of time building up situations that have already been resolved or would have happened anyway.  That the resolutions frequently make little to no sense just further complicates things.   For example, after what seems like an hour or two of us waiting, and watching two men talk about nothing?  People already known to be hiding are machine-gunned to death.  Well, except the one that is let to escape by the villain, of course.    How interesting would it be if their paths intertwined again?  


Oh, please. That's as likely as some Nazi super-sniper starring in a movie attempting to romance a Jewish theater owner in occupied Paris, or a generic discussion of great films and directors between the two.  Especially if one of them had been the (other) villain let escape earlier....   Preposterous, right?

How deep can you do that before it kills them?

Then we've got savage Jews running around Germany guerrilla-style smashing the heads of German soldiers in, or digging in the skin of those heads to what looks like almost possibly fatal depths.  All run by some redneck that pokes his fingers in the wounds of allies, whose hair-brained (and quite unnecessary it turns out) plans get that allied person killed, murdered by the evil but most (only) interesting character in the movie.  The killer who, besides being a sadistic and evil mastermind,  turns out to be gay, a coward, a traitor and an opportunist.   One that wants to live the American Dream.    Wait, where was I?


In any case, it's a pity that the person that actually would have gotten this alternate reality job done anyway  quite unsurprisingly gets killed by the first person they sort of killed, not that they wouldn't have burnt anyway.   I suppose getting shot at the last moment instead of igniting later is just rather ironic.  As is not being able to see what you'd set up get finished.   In this case, by others doomed to burn.   Yes, and the other two people separately involved shoot a bunch of the ones who are going to burn anyway, just like almost everyone else would have and does, so that's all okay I suppose.   After all, the bumbling of the others would have ruined both the plans if it hadn't been for our evil mastermind not stopping either plan; the one he was aware of and the one he didn't know about, since doing anything would have stopped both.    Whew.  Talk about overkill.

Eli says hello

Oh, and there's a black guy, and some music by David Bowie.  I suppose what is most amazing is that's all the same movie.Well, not really the same movie, but it does happen at the same time and parts intertwine in a way.    The same and not the same?  It's all quite perplexing.


So, Quentin.  If you're going to make some more warped less funny version of 1967's  Casio Royale  it might turn out better if you take shorter than ten years to write it.  Although at least we didn't have to sit through the entire 12 hours, eh?  Maybe that is the beauty of it all.

Buon Giorno indeed.

How about that ten years?

What is a decade?  Why, of course, it's 10 years. That's correct!   Any period of 10 years.   From a December to a January (98 months) or from a January to a December (120 months) or any combination, as long as the years are 10 as a group.

The word decade is from the Greek dekas.  This is perhaps interesting, as the other year group words (lustrum, century and millennium) are from Latin.  The same concept applies to them also though, simply the time-frame itself changes.


So since any group of ten years is a decade, there are a number of ways to use it that are valid, depending upon the context of the discussion.  Ordinal, cardinal, referential, other; it's 10 years all the same   I'll give some examples of each and we'll be done with it all.


1782-1791   The last decade of Mozart's life.
2002-2011   A decade ending this year.
975-984  A decade that ended in 984. 

1950-1959   The fifties, the nineteen-fifties, the 50s.
2000-2009   The zeros, the twenty-zeros, the 00s.  Zero, null, double-ought.

1-10  The 1st decade.
1901-1910   The 191st decade.
2011-2020  The 202nd decade.


The ten years in the first millennium:ending in 00: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000.     The even numbered ten years from 2004 to 2012.   The last decade of what we call B.C.,  10 to 1.

Oh, wait, I've just thought of something.

August 14th, 2000   On that Monday, episode 1,  E3 Nightmare Begins was published, and the web comic continues on to this day.  That makes 125 months, with today starting the 126th.  The first month being 14 Aug - 13 Sep that is.

They're up to episode 1295.  If you've never read Megatokyo, or even if you have, you can conveniently do so right now.  There's nothing too jarring over how it has progressed over the years, although you'll perhaps find the pace rather unsettling once you catch up.  If you've not kept up,or disliked something in the past, maybe now is the time to go back.

Note that you shouldn't go to the main page, because it shows the most recent episode.   This is why the link above is to the first comic.     If you'd like to go to a specific page earlier than the present (so as to not end up on the current strip and miss out) use http://www.megatokyo.com/strip/# instead.

Ooops, I've skipped the quasi-infamous Thursday the 13th

I had all sorts of grandiose plans yesterday to write an amazing blog post.   Sadly enough, not being able to choose the subject led to my running out of time, resulting in the unfortunate and entirely unexpected lack of a post yesterday.    With this post, today isn't looking particularly fantastic either, and I do so hate thinking on the weekend. 

Although I have only promised to post once a week, I take it personally that I may have crushed the expectations of the readers.   So I must therefore apologize.  On the other hand, perhaps I can salvage something from this post.

No, seemingly not.

GUNS

Some things just don't go together

Imagine a rhythm game where during a selection process the users will pick songs to play.   During this song selection process, the selected song plays, so the users can preview it.    

Also imagine for that same game, there are various locations and settings in which the characters find themselves.   Inside a stadium or theater, or in vehicle like boat or a van or an airplane.   Each has background noise appropriate for the location.  

It's not a good idea to have the characters in a loud overwhelming location like the inside of a machine room or vehicle engine area while the songs are being selected.    A situation where an incessant droning rumbling noise is playing at a volume as loud or louder than the music of the song is a bad idea.   Seems like something which  would have been caught during playtesting such a game, doesn't it.

Imagine that.

A new day, a new blog.

The trouble with writing is not the writing itself, some would say.  The problem is determining what to write about.   There are plenty of stories in the news one can politicize or make opinions upon, but I'll leave that to the plethora of sites and blogs and conventional media that already do so.   They can deal with it, so I don't have to, at least for the time being.   Besides, there's nothing much fun in stating opinions as if they were facts, nor with laboriously building a case for why what I think is any more or less random and fleeting as all the other people out there making their case. 

I suppose I could poll the readership to see what they'd most like to read next.   The trouble with that is that there isn't a readership yet, and there may never be.  Neither does me any good right now.   So poor little me has to sit here and think of something to write about.   Which I appear to have done.   So the first blog post is about the first blog post.

We start with the obvious.   Today is 11111.    Happy start of the blog.