...E3 2009 Mega Post

E3 2009 was amazing. Started out by watching the Microsoft Press Conference with the other Harmonix employees in our lunch room. We all knew all the Beatles would be represented onstage and that we would have HMX employees demoing the game live. It went over really well:

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/launch.php

An hour later I hopped in a plane for LA and showed off the game to press and fans for 3 days straight. I have sung those 10 Beatles songs enough to last a lifetime now! And I still can't nail the low harmony in I Saw Her Standing There...Speaking of Harmonies, I'm happy to say that was one of the features I worked on. Wired has a nice writeup for how it works:

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/06/beatles-rock-band/

I also got the chance to go out a bunch with my old friend Darion (his blog is linked to the left). Thanks for the good times and letting me crash at your place for 2 nights.

I guess there's video out there on Fox news, G4, and the Xbox dashboard that people saw where I'm singing/demoing the game. But all I have today are pics!


We has parties every night after the show. Here I am on the first night playing with Giles Martin!

Got this from Joystiq.com. It's me and Nate playing with some conference attendees.

This group was awesome. I loved watching them slowly learn to harmonize.

The calm before the storm of the first day. We had 3 booths (Wii, Ps3, Xbox 360), a psp setup, and a rest area with meeting rooms. Oh yeah and a huge theater that was like Abbey Road Studio 2.

Setting things up on day 1.

We also had this huge list of all 700 Rock Band songs.

The inside of the theater where presentations were done every half hour.

We also had a Lego Booth and this area in the main hallway. This one was for the Pepsi sponsored contest where people could shoot there own videos.

That's the actual car from the movie!

Darion took me to a club called Einstein's. Unfortunately he couldn't get in with his sneakers so I went in quickly to check it out. Cool place!

In my very small amount of spare time I walked around and saw Eliza Dushku signing posters for the game Wet.

...The Beatles: Rock Band

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/trailer.php

See what I've been proudly working on :)

...E3 next week

I'll be there demoing The Beatles Rock Band. I'll post some links soon :)

...a couple early reviews for Rock Band Unplugged

http://kotaku.com/5270546/rock-band-unplugged-review-its-the-frequency-kenneth

http://psp.ign.com/articles/986/986116p1.html

If you have a psp and like Rock Band you should pick it up. I'll be at E3 next week where we'll be showing this off (in addition to The Beatles!).

...some recent pics (Including GDC and Harmonix Bowling)

So I was just in San Francisco for GDC. Meet lots of friends, had great food, and enjoyed awesome weather.


Helen was thirsty at the airport.


Had some drinks with my friend Pete on top of the Marriot. How come I never did this when I lived here? Beautiful view...


Virgin Megastore is closing :(


But Virgin America airlines just started and pretty much rules. Time flies when surfing the web.



Hmx bowling day! We all made outfits in a couple hours and spent the rest of the day bowling....cool zep inspired shirt.



A couple more awesome shirts...



Mitch (on the right) was on my team - the Amazing Jason Kendallpins


Speaking of Jason Kendall...I saw his band Megasus play in Providence. If you get a chance to see them I highly recommend it.

...I'll be in SF next week for GDC 2009

For those going to GDC I recommend Dan Teasdale's talk Friday morning: https://upload.cmpevents.com/GD09/a.asp?option=G&V=3&id=607061

I've seen it twice now and it's a good one.

..,best of best of music lists

This sites got you covered in terms of what people think is the best music:
http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/

...Kindle and E-readers

Something I've been thinking about lately:

So I have a prediction. Within a medium time-frame (4-7 years), e-readers and digital books will do to books what the ipod and mp3s did to cds. That is, they will become good, cheap, and easy enough to use that it will be super mass market and the minority of people will actually be buying physical books.

I will probably be interested in an purchasing an e-reader and reading books electronically (in parallel with normal book reading) but not until they get way better. Here's some of the things that will have to happen to get me interested:

- MUCH cheaper. I'm talking $100-$150 range.
- Bigger screen that is practically edge to edge.
- Much longer battery life - I don't need another device to plug in ALL the time.
- Ability to get subscriptions automatically downloaded to the device easily (I want magazines monthly and the local paper daily).
- Color screen so I can read magazines and comics.
- Ability to buy physical books and have them come with the electronic version.
- I may be willing to live without some of the above if the device easily surfed the web via WiFI.

...the Beatles game has a link!

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/

...Top of 2009

Interesting year of purchases last year. Probably the least amount of gaming I've done in 10 years...I also think it was an off year for games. Not the best year for music or movies either imo. Still there were some good things:

Music
Torche - Meanderthal
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
The Bronx - The Bronx 3
Triclops - Out of Africa
Future of the Left - Curses

Honorable mention:
The Death Set - Worldwide
Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer


Movies
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Wall-E
The Dark Knight
The Wrestler

Honorable mention:
Burn After Reading
Mongol
Iron Man
American Teen
Forgetting Sarah Marshall


Games
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead
Rock Band 2
Braid
Super Smash Bros Brawl

Anything missing?

...it's halfway through it

So by all accounts it's been a crazy winter. So far it's been record snow fall records for a single day and for the month. Boston has welcomed me with weather as bad as can get and I have survived.

I have learned so much about living in cold weather...the biggest change being that I now goto the gym more as opposed to walking home all the time. Oh yeah, I've learned the real reason why old people move to Florida from here. It's really easy to bust your ass on the ice out here. I haven't fallen yet but it's bound to happen eventually.

In other news I probably have to get braces...the Tom Cruise similarities keep coming :) <--brace-face.

Some pics:






Some party and post-party pics. That place was like the Nakatomi building....Yippie-Kai-Yae



It started with the Lake Freezing...somehow I found this fascinating.

Oh look, how cute it snowed a bit.


Yay, a reason for the cold!


WTH!? This is pretty much how it's been for the last month!

I saw a band called Fucked Up at the Middle East. The show was great, highlighted by when the large singer jumped up and grabbed a ceiling pipe, only to have the pipe burst and spray out water...

...things to review later (updated constantly)

So some stuff I haven't got to (and am waiting for a new template). Stuff I recommend in bold.

Music:
Tonnage - The Swell
The Bronx - The Bronx 3
Descendants - Milo Goes to College
The Nerves - One Way Ticket
Black Elk - Always a Six, Never a Nine
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain
Portishead - Dummy
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Young Widows - Old Wounds
Black Flag - Loose Nut
Joy Division - Les Bains Douches
Joy Division - In the Studio With Martin Hannett
Does It Offend You, Yeah - You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Youself Into
Devo - Oh No! It's Devo
Coalesce - 012:2
Aerosmith - Rocks
M.I.A. - Kala
Blondie - Parallel Lines
Earles and Jones - Just Farr A Laugh
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Cancer Bats - Hail Desroyer
Melvins - Nude With Boots
3 Inches of Blood - Fire Up the Blades
The Beatles - Love
Sigur Ros - ()
Local H - 12 Angry Months
Guns N' Roses - Lies
Van Halen - Van Halen (remastered)
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap
Mission of Burma - Vs.
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
The Death Set - Worldwide
Fugazi -Steady Diet of Nothing (remastered)
Idiot Pilot - Wolves
Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies
Torche - Meanderthal
Elvis Costello - This years model (rhino version)
Evangelista - Hello, Voyager
Triclops - Out of Africa
The Breeders - Mountain Battles
Fight Amp -Hungry for Nothing
Cancer Bats - Birthing the Giant
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
Joe Lally - Nothing is Underrated
Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
The Hives - The Blank and White Album
Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
Girls Against Boys - Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby
Disfear - Live the Storm
Black Mountain - In the Future
Future of the Left - Curses
*Shels - Laurentians Atoll
*Shels - Sea of the Dying Dhow
Akimbo - Navigating the Bronze
Chavez - Better Days will Haunt You
The Police - Outlandos d'Amour
AC/DC - For Those About To Rock
Ont Blod - Grizzly Twister
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs
High on Fire - Death Is the Communion
A Place to Bury Strangers - A Place to Bury Strangers
Austerity Program - Black Madonna
The Very Best of Herman's Hermits
Against Me! - New Wave
Patton Oswalt - Werewolves and Lollipops
Gallows - Orchestra of Wolves
Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb
Neurosis - Given to the Rising
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men
Halo of Flies - Music For Insect Minds
The Cure - Faith
The Jam - This is the modern world / all mods cons
Black Flag - The complete 1982 Demos
Public Image ltd. - Public Image
The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys
The Hope Conspiracy - Death Knows Your Name
Modern Life Is War - Witness
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks
My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
Totmoshi - Ladron
These Arms Are Snakes - Easter
Death Proof (OST) - Various Artists
Melvins - A Senile Animal
Unsane - Visqueen
The National - Boxer
Battles - Mirrored
Ho-Ag - The Word from Pluto

Movies:
The Wrestler
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Synecdoche, New York
Milk
Religulous
W.
Burn After Reading
Pineapple Express
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Wanted
Mongol
Stuck
Iron Man
American Teen
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Girls Rock
The Signal
In Bruges
Cloverfield
There Will Be Blood
Atonement
The Savages
I am Legend
No Country for Old Men
Control
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Shoot 'em Up
Stardust
Superbad
The King of Kong
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Simpsons Movie
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ratatouille
Death at a Funeral
Sicko
Black Book
28 Weeks Later
Knocked Up

Books:
The Road
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
Hip: The History
Outliers: The Story of Success
Cobain Unseen
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
My Stroke of Insight
Hack: How I Stopped Worrying About What To Do With My Life & Started Driving a Yellow Cab
Right is Wrong
American Hardcore
Songwriters on Songwriting
Michael Moore's Election Guide
Black Sabbath's Master of Reality
How Do You Work This Life Thing?
Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles
Nirvana's In Utero
Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus, and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort Zone
Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures
Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
A Voyage for Madmen
The Tipping Point
The Game
Blink
What to Eat
All I need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned From the Toxic Avenger
Noam Chomsky - Failed States
Douglas Coupland - JPod
David Sklansky - No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice
Einstein
Buddha (vol 1-8)

...what WAS Star Wars about?

http://vimeo.com/2809991

Brilliant...

...loans that change lives?

This sounds like a really good idea: http://www.kiva.org/

...I can't get this out of my head

All night long...and that damn Beatles song - yeah THAT one.

...to put on my wall

This weekend was busy - in addition to the Harmonix Christmas party and the new karaoke night at Razzys (pics of both to come soon), I bought art!


Proceeds went to the artists who were in need.

This one is called Musical Notes by Charles Huiritz.


I don't know why this jpeg is 90 degrees! Anyhow it's called Shirley Temple by Jill Brooks.


Not sure what the hat is called or who did it (EDIT: Yasmin Arshad). I'm calling it Talll.

...it's fall - uh wait it's winter already

The seasons are a changing. Time to buy more winter clothes! Good thing the price of oil is down :)



The Konks with singer Kurt from Harmonix.





Election night/Obama party.


The line to vote was hundreds of people long!



Halloween was fun this year. I had a lot more pics but they were mostly blurry...



California dreaming on such a winter's day...

...happiest dog ever

...hmx - number 11

So my company is the 11th best place to work for in Massachusetts:

http://www.boston.com/jobs/topworkplaces/2008/topworkplaces_chart/

...oh no

Will Smith staring in a remake of Old Boy...crap

...yes

we can!