Toronto Thumbs

GAME PROMO ITEMS
Fallout 3 Does Them Right

Here’s a neat promo item that was given away as a pre-order bonus for Fallout 3: a soundtrack sampler CD. In keeping with the games retro-futuristic look and feel, the packaging is reminiscent of old 45rpm records. The CD itself contains five songs – something I don’t believe is possible on a small 45, but I’m no expert on such things.

The sampling of in-game tunes includes the haunting “I Don’t Want to Set The World on Fire,” as performed by The Ink Spots, “Way Back Home” as performed by Bob Crosby and the almost surreal but surprisingly fitting “Butcher Pete (Part 1) by Roy Brown. This CD sampler also includes two original tracks from the game’s musical score by composer Inon Zur.

While we’re talking Fallout 3, don’t forget to enter our contest for your chance to win your very own Vault Dweller’s Survival Guide, which is another promo piece from this excellent game.

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THRUSH HERMIT
Smart Bomb EP

In the early 90s, Canada’s East Coast was ground zero for an indie rock explosion of monster proportions. Many of the notable bands that came out of that time and place were on Murderecords, a label run by Haligonian rock gods Sloan. Bands of that era have moved on, either in creative direction of physical location. Some even moved to Toronto.

Joel Plaskett, who now fronts Joel Plaskett Emergency and writes roughly as many love songs for Halifax as he does for girls, was (along with bassist Ian McGettigan, guitarist/vocalist Rob Benvie, and drummer Cliff Gibb) a creative force in a great band that went by the name of Thrush Hermit.

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Posted in Awesome, Canada, Music | No Comments »

REVIEW
120GB Zune is Massive and Mighty

Pictured above: The Gears of War 2 special edition 120 GB Zune.

I received an 8GB Zune as part of a Microsoft promotional campaign this summer. My thoughts about it can be read here. Overall, I was very impressed with the tiny device and felt it was an all-around better music player than not only Apple’s iPod, but every other player I’ve used.

Recently, I was sent a review unit of the new 120GB Zune. It’s huge by comparison, both in storage and physical size. The 120GB could easily fracture your toe, if you’re unfortunate enough to drop it on your foot. At first, I didn’t like that this bigger Zune was so much… bigger. But after a few days it began to grow on me, and my poor little 8GB player was left on my nightstand.

But the 120GB monster isn’t just big in form factor. What used to be a time-consuming task of meticulously picking 8 gigs of music that I’d want to listen to on a frequent basis was now non-existent. I could fit every album I’ve ever ripped to MP3 on this massive beast. What I didn’t realize till actually taking it on the go with me is that the discretion I use to select songs to put on its 8 gig brother was still there – only now I had to go through making that choice every time I wanted to listen to music.

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Posted in Awesome, Music, Reviews, Zune | 6 Comments »

Celebrate Fable II launch
with Fable Collection Soundtrack for FREE!

If you’re a fan of action/adventure RPGs, you probably already picked up Fable II. I started playing the game late last night and decided I would only play for a half hour before going to bed. Unfortunately for my sleep needs, the game is too compelling to be so easily put aside! I’m sorry, Mega Man 9. You and I had a good run. But it’s all Fable II for the next few weeks.

To celebrate the game’s long-awaited release, Microsoft Game Studios has released the Fable Collection album for a limited time as a free download. It includes music from the original game as well as a few tracks from Fable II. Visit sumthingdigital.com, and click on the Fable Collection album art on the right side of the site to get your tunes.

Posted in Music, News, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

MUSICAL REVIEW
Mega Man 9 meets Nowhere Man

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Posted in Awesome, Music, Reviews | 3 Comments »

MUSIC
DJ FINISH HIM: Ice Cream For Breakfast outtake

The upcoming DJ Finish Him album is called “Ice Cream For Breakfast” and while in the studio recently I realized that a few of the songs really didn’t fit the theme of the album (that theme being ice cream for breakfast) so they had to be cut. While I haven’t figured out what to do with these pieces of songs I didn’t want to just throw them away, so here’s one of them that won’t be making the cut. It’s a rendition of the theme song from Phantasy Star from the Sega Master System - one of my favourite games of all time. Enjoy.

Download: Phantasy Star - DJ Finish Him

Posted in Awesome, Music | 2 Comments »

You Have to Really Like Rock Band to Get These

At X’08 in August the Rock Band 2 set-up didn’t feature the new and improved stock drumkit that will be included with box sets of the game. Instead, EA opted to show off a piece of third-party merchandise: The ION Drum Rocker.

It’s an expensive but impressive piece of hardware. At $300, you could most definitely buy a real, if not beat-up drumkit – or, you could just buy this and have the coolest Rock Band kit around. The pads feel much better than those on the pack-in kit, and the cymbals are just mapped green, yellow, and blue pads. The pedal’s solidly constructed and I don’t see anyone ever having to replace this kit once they’ve bought it.

Although it is a fine piece of hardware, the price point and the fact that it’s about twice as big as the regular Rock Band kit are off-putting, especially for those of us who live in small apartments. Then again, these fancy pads can be used as an electronic drum set with some additional equipment. The kit will be available in three styles: PS2/PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

Posted in Awesome, Music, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | 7 Comments »

Rock Band 2 is Like Rock Band, But Part 2

One enigma about PAX was the super long line-up to play Rock Band 2. The game had its own stage set-up away from EA’s booth, and it very much looked like a rock stage. Fake amps and Rock Band branding and art served as the backdrop and there was an extensive lighting setup. Yes, it looked pretty sweet, and yes, Rock Band is a very fun game – but Rock Band 2 is essentially the same game with different tracks and a few instrument tweaks, and standing in line for any amount of time to play a game I essentially already have was beyond me – plus I did have some hands-on time with it at last week’s awesome X’08 event in Toronto, so I was good.

But every time I had to walk by either Rock Band or Guitar Hero World Tour, I seemed to hear the same songs. Were only a few tracks available, or does everyone just love Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” that much? After hearing the song butchered a few hundred times this weekend, I’m not sure I can listen to the album again. It’s almost like a bad breakup.

But I digress. You’re probably only reading this because of that hilarious photo up top, and want some sort of explanation – so here goes. At any sort of mass gathering of nerds (such as FanExpo or PAX, for instance) these people will show up. People who dress like Stormtroopers and Darth Vader. I recall hearing these three dudes were actually there to promote the Star Wars miniatures tabletop game – but that doesn’t matter. Right here, they’re shown rockin’ along to Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.”

And now you do. Go forth and rock.

Posted in Awesome, Music | 2 Comments »