Rock Band - with Cymbals?

So if you've played Rock Band drums and you think that you're rocking out to your favorite songs as best as you can, think again.

Mad Catz has created Rock Band 2 cymbals that sync up with your pads to enhance your drum playing experience. For those of you who have played Rock Band drums, you know there are four pads - red, yellow, blue, and green going from left to right. Most actual drum sets have a snare drum, three toms, a hi-hat cymbal, a ride cymbal, and probably a number of crash cymbals. Look them up if you don't know what I'm talking about - they definitely have different sounds, and I bet you'd recognize them if you hear them.

With four toms, Rock Band did a great job matching up the colors with realistic locations for the cymbals. The red is always the snare drum. The yellow can be a tom or the hi-hat cymbal. The blue can be a tom or the ride cymbal. And the green can be a tom or the crash cymbal.

Well thanks to a $40 addon (we got two of the cymbals for $25 total, and the third for an additional $15 at Walmart), we now have cymbals that take the place of the overlap. Rock Band 2 has a setting that allows you to add these cymbals, and if you play the pad, it plays the tom sound. If you play the cymbal, it plays the cymbal sound.

For gameplay purposes, there is no difference between hitting the hi-hat cymbal and the yellow tom. You can still play everything on the pads. If you hit the tom where a cymbal should be, you don't mess up the note. It doesn't increase the difficulty too drastically.

But if you're anything like me, who loves to play the songs that he knows well, I love trying to figure out whether I'm supposed to be hitting the tom or the cymbal. It adds a whole new level of complexity. Instead of concentrating on getting the highest score now, or getting 100%, I'm not concentrating on playing the song correctly! Imagine that! I'm focusing less on the bass drum pedal (which is usually my primary focus) and I'm thinking about the other notes. This has made me a better Rock Band drummer already after 3 songs.

It would be neat if there were some way to tell other than your ear how to play it, but this add-on takes you another step toward realistic drumming. It takes you a step away from just playing "Simon Says" and makes you more of an actual drummer where you have to make your own musical decisions. A friend of mine, after trying the cymbals once said "I never thought drummers really ever used the cymbals." The cymbal addons make you a better musician overall, which is pretty neat to think about.

I know that $40 is kind of expensive, but I will say - if you enjoy Rock Band drumming and would like a new challenge - get them. It takes the drumming to a whole new level.

Now if only they could make the guitars more realistic...

Side note: I still like Guitar Hero World Tour better, but they are much closer now.

Diablo II

Alright, so wtf am I doing playing a 10 year old game? Sometimes I wonder this myself, as I look at my screen with 256 colors and the most amazing graphics that the 20th century had to offer.

I played Diablo II the first time my freshman year of college. I borrowed the game from a friend, and it didn't take me long until I said "wait, is this all the game is?" And this is the logical thought process of a normal human being. That being said, I am no normal human being.

So I started playing it again later in my college career. When I was still living at home, we setup a LAN and played multiplayer Diablo II. My two brothers and I played it multiplayer for a few weeks. And I enjoyed it, but we never really got too far into it before we thought the same thing - is that all there is?

Later out of school, my friend Matt and I decided to revisit it. This would be the furthest I had ever gotten into the game, going all the way to the end of the original game and killing Diablo with Matt. But then he moved out and I lost interest.

Now, it's back. I've played each class at least once to near the end of Act I (there are five acts for all you who have never played it) except for paladin. And this time, I found a class that I liked. I played the game through and finally beat the expansion as well. The interesting thing about Diablo is that once you best the game, you can play it through again on Nightmare mode with the same character, and then once you beat that, you play a third time on Hell mode.

So why am I playing Act V on Nightmare mode anxiously awaiting playing Hell mode Act I content that I am sick of? Probably because of World of Warcraft. Itemization in Diablo is just like it was in WoW, and I miss doing all of the math. Should I take the shield with the higher defense or the higher resistances? Should I use the attack rating ring or the life steal ring? My brain likes making these decisions. So even if Diablo II is a clickfest has terrible graphics and has virtually no storyline, I am playing it for gear upgrades. Pathetic? Yes. But I'm having fun and that's all that matters.

One more note as to why I like it - the action is mindless. And sometimes doing something mindless like clicking on that monster until it croaks and then finding another one entertains the 5 year old in me.

I hope Diablo III is more of the same.

New Years Resolution Idea

Everyone is too busy to do anything. They never have time. It's true that there are only 24 hours in a day. However, even assuming you spend 10 hours a day working (8 plus commute) and 8 hours sleeping, which most people don't. That's 6 hours to do everything else. And then you need to eat, clean up, take care of the kids, talk on the phone with your mom, pay the bills, mow the lawn, fix the tractor...fine, come up with all sorts of things to do. The truth is, we all spend a lot of time doing nothing worthwhile.

The me qualify "worthwhile" a little. I don't think that watching your favorite TV show is not worthy of your time - I think that watching your favorite 4 TV shows every night isn't. I don't think you need to spend 2 hours every day reading every sports article on espn.com or si.com. (guilty as charged, but we all have our own websites that we over-visit).

So here's an idea for the New Year. It probably won't take you more than an hour, and you'll see why in a second. But you'll feel a lot better about yourself and you'll probably be surprised in the change that you see.

1. Take 20 minutes a day to better yourself, physically.
I don't care what you consider this. Jog. Walk. Swim. Bike. Lift weights. Do Wii Fit. Dance DDR. Whatever it is, get physically active. If we did something, ANYthing for 20 minutes a day, we'd all be healthier.

2. Take 20 minutes a day to better yourself, mentally.
This doesn't just mean to keep your mind active. Learn something. Read an interesting book, not just an entertaining one. Better yourself by learning a new language or a new skill. If you're into cooking, learn how to cook something new. If you're into politics, read up on a subject you don't quite understand. If you're into music, learn a new instrument or a new song. Doing something that you've never done before will keep your mind active.

3. Take 20 minutes a day to better yourself, socially.
Play with your kids or visit your parents. Call an old friend. Talk to your significant other. Do anything with them, just don't do it alone. Even an AIM conversation is better than nothing.

4. Take 20 minutes a day to better yourself, spiritually.
Whatever your religion is, 20 minutes of thoughtful reflection will help you relax and remain calm. Pray, reflect, whatever you want to call it. Just try to make time for it.

This sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. Most of us do probably two of these daily at least. And sometimes, you can exercise socially or even pray socially and kill two birds with one stone. Knowing that you're keeping your body in shape, your mind learning, your spiritual life thriving, and your social network active will give anyone a confidence boost. Most of us are strong in two or maybe even three of these things, but the fourth is our Achilles Heel. Doing the fourth one is our true New Years Resolution.

Now it's time for me to try to practice what I preach. We'll see how that works out.

Welcome 2009

It's time to say goodbye to 2008 and hello to 2009. So what happened in my life this year? Let's compare my year to some friends of mine.

My co-owner and his fiance set a wedding date for September of this year.
My brother graduated from college and found a well-paying job.
My close friend and housemate graduated from college.
My good friend joined a monestary.
And a third good friend actually did get married.

So what happened to me? Nothing. Nothing compared to all of that anyway.

So keeping this in mind, here are my New Years Resolutions, both unrealistic and realistic.

1. Go to the gym three times a week (unrealistic, I give myself 3 weeks)
2. Stop finishing other peoples' sentences for them. (apparently people hate this, hopefully it's realistic)
3. Do something significant. I hope to play trumpet in a jazz band this year, and I'd like to find another activity of self-betterment.
4. Post to this blog more than once or twice a month. I think this one is realistic, but only time will tell.

Enjoy your pork and kraut everyone. Happy New Year.