Music Plug - June Edition

New month equals new music plug! This month's plug is the outrageously cool indie-pop band dubbed Lightning Love. Lightning Love's trio is includes Leah Diehl on keyboards and vocals, Aaron Diehl (siblings!) on drums and Ben Collins on guitar. I recently found these guys while doing my usual hunt for new music, seeing how my playlist was getting a little stale. Lightning Love by far instantly got my attention and has me hooked. Their music is simply a style that I adore, not to mention Leah's vocals are total ear-candy.
Their album, November Birthday was released in December of '08. I snatched a digital copy quick off of Amazon and it's one of the best buys I've spent on CDs. My personal fav off the album has to be Wait, Wait, but the entire CD is just a thrill. Their sound is a total treat to the ears and I totally recommend taking a listen to these cool kids (not to mention they're from Michigan, surprise to me!) So if you dig indie and pop, take a listen to them or find them on facebook.

LittleBigPlanet 2 set to release this Holiday Season

It's days like these I wish I was an owner of a PS3. LittleBigPlanet 2 is set to release later this year and by the looks of it, it's bound to be a beautiful creation. If you've ever heard of video games ever, LittleBigPlanet has to be one of the biggest hits to land on the PS3; this game is seriously boss. By the looks of it, there's more level ingeniuity and even gadgets and rides (who doesn't want their cute little sack person riding on a mouse?). My favorite new part is Sackbots, which you control through a puppet system, these guys are seriously cute. Media Molecule certainly has outdone themselves on this one. I for one can not wait to see the thousands of levels and designs that players and the developers alike can dish out.

WTF Game of the Month - Yume Nikki

It's a new month, so you know what that means: a new WTF GotM. This month's game is Yume Nikki, a freeware game created by Japanese developer, Kikiyama. Yume Nikki is a bizarre little game where you play the role of Madotsuki (lit. window in japanese), a girl who is a hikikomori, a sociological phenomenon where a person shuts themselves away from society and hides away in their rooms. Madotsuki spends her time while she's awake playing a game called, "Nasu", where you eat eggplant and collect points. The game really begins to get weird when you fall asleep. Your screen then counts to three and you enter the Nexus, or the gateway with doors that lead you to other dreams. Each dream is a different dream world and the objective of the game is to explore these worlds and collect effects that allow you to advance in other areas (such as the knife, bicycle, or umbrella) or just change your look (blonde hair, long hair, or fat). This game gets really bizarre sometimes and you always find something new that you might've not noticed before. Yume Nikki is quite a free-range game, with little to no directions as to what you have to do. I can't help to feel a wavering sense of dread and suspense while playing this game. The game's music and no direction really help drive that, and the disturbing graphics take whatever sense you had before playing. I really enjoyed this game to bits and hope that you would give Mado a visit. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to hide from UboaaaaaaAAAAAAAAああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああ

WTF Game of the Month - Noby Noby Boy

If you're like me, you enjoy a nice game that will twist and turn your brain to think in ways it hasn't before, giving you a nice refreshing start and a good brain teaser for a while. Japan just seems to be able to take that factor and create something that will leave your brain thinking: WTF?
Noby Noby Boy for the PS3 is just one of those games. With a feel of Katamari Damacy to it, Noby Noby Boy continues to make oneself ask the simple question of WTF? I admit, I'm a fan of Katamari because it's just so weird. Noby Noby Boy tops the weirdness to the point you have no idea why you bought the game in the first place. You play as BOY, a worm-like character that's one sole purpose in life is stretch and...that's about it. You can collect points by stretching and then you connect to online play to submit those points to GIRL, who will also stretch to other planets, unlocking new levels. Did I mention you can fart? Noby Noby Boy is available for the PS3 and iPhone OS. So if you enjoy whatever weird things Japan is able to dish out, then this game is worth a try.

Human Season, Zombie Season!

It's May and you know what that means. That's right, HvZ season. For those of you out of the loop, Humans Vs. Zombies, or HvZ for the streets, is a massive game of tag between two teams. Humans are armed with nerf guns, nerf swords, light sabers, and socks to keep themselves from getting infected, or tagged by a Zombie. Each team has its own separate rules and must follow those on their life. Many schools (high school and college alike) are participating in this country wide event. HvZ has some history, too. Since 2005 by the ingenious of some college students from Goucher College, students everywhere have been taken by the HvZ fever. The infection is so serious that Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report, has reconised it as #1 Threat in America!

My school is participating, so I can report first-hand experience for those of you at home safe from this infection. So, brothers and sisters in arms, what's it going to be? Are you a human, or a zombie?
Check out more information at the official HvZ webpage.

Music Plug - May Edition

Each month I hope to have a music review of any music I find utterly rad. This month's artist is 8bit bEtty.
I've only recently found 8bit bEtty's music, but I can tell you that I'm in love. Her 8bit and chiptune jams are definite ear-candy and are just a joy to listen to. My personal favorite track is And I know that you're happy (ballad of the lonesome spaceboy). Too Bleep to Bloop is 8bit bEtty's album and I recommend it. If you enjoy 8bit music as much as I do and love a good blast-from-the-past, 8bit bEtty is worth checking out. Check her out on facebook, too!

VOCALOID Lily?

On a Vocaloid blog,
recent news has gotten out of development of a new VOCALOID dubbed, "Lily". There's no release date as of yet, but I'm excited to see what bugs they've worked out since the last VOCALOIDS. Her original artwork is done by KEI (designed the original Hatsune Miku art seen on her box), so hopefully this'll be a Crypton baby.