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Show life B2 MONDAY • APRIL 9 • 2007 Game system review Music review Local band celebrates new release Bouncing back from setbacks, The Weak Men host CD release party Attention Nintendo: Wii need games with depth Is Nintendo losing support with too many lackluster minigames? Chad Hunt Life Writer Velour in Provo will be hosting a show Friday, April 13, which will showcase a number of popular local acts, including Mathematics Et Cetera, The Eden Express and Pierrot Le Fou. Headlining the event is The Weak Men. The event starts at 8 p.m. and will be in honor of the release of The Weak Men's new album DOG, the band's sophomore album, which is coming almost exactly a year after their debut. The six-piece local group has been involved in the local music scene for years. The group consists of Tom Perry on guitar, James Loomis on guitar, Justin Perry on keyboards, Adam Mitton on drums, Matt Gifford on bass and Diana Perry rounds out the group, covering keys and the glockenspiel. Started by the Perry siblings, along with some longtime friends, the band has evolved over the years since its conception. "The band used to play pop-rock for a long time, but weren't real passionate about it and changed to a more post-rock sound, which is the current sound," said Gifford. Since the band turned the corner, focusing on their new sound, reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, they have gained a serious local following. Their popularity has even earned them several Battle of the Bands titles, most notably a second place score in a battle last fall at UVSC, coming only behind Joshua James. The new release follows up their critically acclaimed untitled album, which is com- Ty Theobald Life Writer Courtesy PhotcyThe Weak Men The Weak Men from left to right: Justin, James, Tom, Diana, Adam, Giff Courtesy Photo/The Weak Men The Weak Men from left to right: Justin, James, Tom, Diana, Adam, Giff rnonly referred to as 'The Deer Album" because of the album's cover. According to Gifford, the album will be "more developed and quite a bit more sentimental." Gifford also said, "[DOG] has a lot more me melody with it and has a more nostalgic feel." This is good news to the band that, after a tragic tour experience last winter, nearly called it quits. According to Gifford, the band was ready to throw in the towel after roughly $3,500 worth of equipment was stolen at the beginning of the tour, leaving the band without the necessary means to complete the tour and with a slew of merchandise that needed to be moved. Tickets for the show Friday are five dollars at the door or three dollars in advance. Advance tickets can be found by logging on to the band's MySpace page, myspace.com/weaVmen It's what every true gamer has dreaded from the little white console: a tidal wave of gimmicky minigames to show off the motion-sensitive controllers. Sure, a few of these games provide loads of outrageous fun with a group of friends, but it's like playing Twister versus sitting down and reading a good novel. Sometimes a gamer just wants to sit down by and spend a good 30 hours saving the world. To date, The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the only Wii game featuring more than 20 hours of solid gameplay. There may be a few others that last nearly as long, but none have as much depth and are not nearly as enjoyable. According to gamerankings.com, only three of the top ten Wii games actually have some kind of coherent plot, while the rest are mediocre sports, racing and party games. From a business standpoint, it's ridiculous for Nintendo to sit on this ultra-successful console and release nothing but decent mash-ups of previous successful game franchises and minigame mediocrity. Nintendo needs to get creative with the controller and come up with some new properties. Third-party developers have created some innovative and fun games for the ultra-successful DS (which many considered to be a flop when it first appeared), so we're waiting for Nintendo to unleash the full creative potential of the controller and release something ground-breaking for the acclaimed Wii. Porting and remaking games that were designed with "dual stick" controllers won't cut it. The games need to be designed for the Wii's remote from the ground up, and use it in some totally new ways. Developers need to realize that you can use the remote as literally any object, whether it be a flight stick on a plane or a building to be plucked up and thrown by a giant monster. Did it occur to anybody that the RTS, or any other genre for that matter, could be totally reinvented? This isn't to say that many of the minigames aren't fun. Warioware: Smooth Moves is a riot with friends. And has anybody really found out how much fun Wii Sports Boxing1} But the market is quickly becoming flooded with these flash-in-the-pan games, and gamers want more engrossing, cinematic games like Zelda, Resident Evil, Cod Of War and Halo. So what's up Nintendo? Is the Wii going to alienate the hardcore gamer by stuffing its catalog with gimmicky party games and mindless anime kids' fare? Let's hope you've learned your lesson with the GarneCube, Nintendo. We're done with the milk; give us some meat. Game review ITUDCnT fummcR WORK 112-15 bo/coppl Be a rock star without the calluses Guitar Hero II allows gamers to become rock n' roll gods Michael Mcbride Life Writer *PT and IT 'Customer /ale/ and service *rieifiblellour/ * Evening and Weekend Shift/ Avail. *flo Cnperienee neee//ori)« Cxten/ivc Training Provided *flll major/ Ulay flpply *Some Intern/hip/ and Corporate Scholar/hip/ Avail, *flo Door to Door or Telephone Sale/ Interview now, /tart after final/ f>roYo80M26-5SI5 CDf). ID 206-6676071 Boise 208-51*5700 UJolla Walla 50*525-9190 laGraacle 541-962-0462 Salt lake City 801-747-5210 PocatelEo 206-476-2995 logon 455-752-5780 Ogden 801-525-9789 Billing/106-252-2880 Spokane 509-892-172S for national location/: ujwui.ujorkfor/tudent/.com Since my roommate brought home Guitar Hero II for the 360, I thought, 'I might as well see what everyone likes about it.' Apparently, this game is all about being the lead guitar player for some band that you name at the beginning of the game. Special guitar-shaped controllers have been made to go along with this game, but you don't need them to play the game. Although, it is easier and more fun with a guitar controller. You're able to play new and old rock songs; you get different songs depending on which difficulty setting you choose. The game is played like Dance Dance Revolution but with your fingers. As the song starts, the neck of a guitar will appear in the middle of the screen and will be moving toward you with the notes you need to play on it. There are five different notes that can be played, all represented by the colYou fill the star meter by ors green, red, yellow, blue hitting star-shaped notes; and orange. When you and you activate it by tiltsee the colored note com- ing your guitar, though it ing down, you will know doesn't last long. By getto play it just as it reaches ting high scores at your the colored markers at the concerts, you will attract bottom of the guitar neck. a sponsor who will take To play the notes, you you to new concerts where must hit the right color but- you can earn money to ton and the wide switch or .buy new songs, guitars and strum bar on the body of the characters from the store. guitar controller both at the I find this game fun. I can same time. But when a long see how other people would line follows the note, you find it addictive, but I do have simply hold the button and one problem with this game: strum bar down till it passes. The majority of the characAs you play, the "Rock ters you get to choose from Meter" in the bottom left of all look disturbed (or just the screen will let you know plain unpleasant). I know if you're "on fire" or totally they're going for that rock screwing up. The "score me- look, but they don't have to ter" tells you what your score make it look so repelling. is; and if you can complete Besides that, I like the a successful series of notes, style used on the menu the meter will multiply your screens. Butpersonally, I find score for each note you hit. this game just a bit overrated. When you fill the blue Most people have given "Star Meter" just above the this game a score higher rock meter, you can activate than 9.0, but I think it's more your "star power," which like an average 8.0. Guitar pumps up your performance Hero II is good but not that and makes the crowd go great, especially if you have crazy for you. Basically, to spend around $90 for the it just doubles your score. game and guitar controller. Edited for contentment From CLEAN AGAIN-B2 But not everyone has been pleased with Thompson's efforts. He reported that he gets some "hate mail" that vehemently opposes the practice of editing movies. The two most common arguments against editing films -- inside and outside of the courtroom ~ are copyright infringement and creative distortion. Thompson said that the educational loophole addresses copyright infringement. And if the filmmak- ers are so concerned about creative distortion, why do they make their own edited versions to be screened on airplanes and television? But Thompson adamantly emphasized that he did not want contention but mutual contentment for Hollywood and Flix Club. Because of Thompson's crusade for cinematic cleanliness, a group called Parents for Family Values nominated him for the 2007 "Making a Difference Award." In addition to running Flix Club, Thompson also oversees the operations for The Modbod Clothing Company, which sells "modest" clothing. "I guess preserving modesty is an important theme in my life, whether it be movies or clothing," Thompson said. Modesty mustbeatoughaspiration for a man whose community regards him so fondly. Note: Flix Club is f;x located at 908 S. - " ^ State St. in Orem, and its hours are Monday through Saturday, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. (801) 4344497 |