New Realm Media Networks Feature: Live Streaming

Realm Media Networks is proud to announce a new feature, live streaming! Our goal is to use this feature to show off new titles, and allow you to interact with our staff as we play, enabling you to see the features of the game you're most interested in.

For our first trial run, we're pulling an older title out of the archives: Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock for the Nintendo Wii. We'll be streaming live from 7-9 PM Central time on Monday, April 14, 2008. We're using the Mogulus service, and an integrated chat room in the embedded player lets you interact with us at anytime while you're watching.

Before and after the live stream, we'll be looping some old footage of a guitar hero tournament, and there are several videos available through the "On-Demand" menu. Our live and archived streams will be available at anytime through our stream page.

TipperQueen discusses her appearance at CES 2008

It's not every day that you can say you met both the richest man in the world and one of your favorite rock star idols, but long time Dallas resident Kelly Law-Yone (aka TipperQueen) recently did just that at CES 2008. She appeared on stage with Bill Gates and Slash of Guns N' Roses fame to help promote Guitar Hero 3 during Microsoft's keynote address at the annual Consumer Electronics Show.

Realm Media Networks was able to ask Kelly a few questions about her recent experience.

Realm Media Networks: So, to get started, how were you selected to appear at Microsoft's CES keynote?

Kelly Law-Yone: Since I have several YouTube videos of me playing Guitar Hero, including some of my WSVG [World Series of Video Games] performances, Microsoft knew that I was a technical player that could perform on stage. They also had me perform at their GH2 360 release, so I had already worked with them before. I was contacted in December while I was in Florida for a Guitar Hero tournament, so I had less than a month to prepare for all of this.

RMN: What was it like meeting Bill Gates and Slash?

Kelly Law-Yone: I got to talk to Bill briefly backstage about Guitar Hero, which was pretty awesome. He seemed really impressed when he learned that people used their right hand to tap notes on the fretboard. He was really easy going and was always cracking jokes when something didn't go exactly right.

I only got to meet Slash briefly before the show started, and it was hard to recognize him without the shades and the hat, haha. I didn’t even know he was going to be there until I arrived in Las Vegas. I was more nervous about Slash watching me during my performance than anyone, because after all – he's the one playing this on a real guitar. I didn’t want to mess this up, and I didn't!

After the show, I got to take a picture with Robbie Bach and Bill Gates, which was simply amazing. I couldn't believe it was really happening, because I’ve always wanted to meet Bill ever since I was a kid. I also got a picture with Slash and congratulated him on a great performance and he said the same to me! I only wish I had the chance to play him on Guitar Hero 3.

RMN: How did this CES press conference compare to the Guitar Hero 2 launch?

Kelly Law-Yone: The CES Keynote was much more rehearsed and practiced than the GH2 launch. During the keynote, everyone was running around backstage and there were tons of wires on the floor so people would constantly tell you to "watch the floor." CES is one of the biggest events of year, so it was definitely more scaled up.

RMN: Are you going to be appearing at any other Microsoft events?

Kelly Law-Yone: I would love to work more with Microsoft – they are a great group of people to work with. Everyone knows how to have a good time but still stay focused on what needs to be done.

RMN: Many people are saying Guitar Hero 3 has bumped up the difficulty significantly over Guitar Hero 2, does that seem like an accurate statement to you?

Kelly Law-Yone: I actually think it's the opposite; I think GH3 is a whole lot easier than GH2. Part of it has to do with the larger timing window when you can hit the notes so you don't have to be as precise. Some people complain about the complicated chord changes, but all it takes is figuring out what is most comfortable for you. One of my favorite parts about GH3 is the different hyperspeed settings and the fact you can play at your own [hyperspeed] on XBOX Live. I think the note charts in GH2 are much more complicated than that of GH3 actually. "Through the Fire and Flames" is the hardest song to do well on, in my opinion, but if I get through the first few notes of the song I know I’ll pass it, unlike Guitar Hero 2’s "Jordan."

RMN: Thanks for answering a few questions, I'm sure your fans were excited to see you up on stage at one of the biggest press conferences of the year!

Kelly Law-Yone: It was definitely one of the greatest events I have ever been to, and I have to thank Microsoft, my team – Team Pandemic, and my friends and family cheering me on. Being on stage with Bill Gates and Slash seems surreal, and I’m really thankful I got to have this amazing experience. Keep rockin’ everyone, and have a great 2008.

Other Links:
[pic] TipperQueen at WSVG Dallas 2007
[pic] TipperQueen at Midnight Gaming Championship

TGS 2007: Final Thoughts on the Tokyo Game Show

So I just wanted to give a collection of random TGS thoughts that I had, but I gave myself one week to make sure that only the most memorable would make their way into my rant. Actually, I'm just lazy and my editor kept nagging me to do this.

The food court at TGS is crazy. As a foreigner, I would highly recommend making your way as far as possible away from the hall when you need a meal, as you will not fit in. At all. I walked by and looked at everything available, looked at the numerous "tables" (all packed), and the countless hordes of Japanese waiting around for their food to know that I needed to head out of the facility briefly for my eats. Even the McDonalds that was close to the facility had a line of about 200 waiting there. I opted for some Shabu Shabu (another experience in which I felt completely clueless and I either made a fool of myself or insulted the restaurant or both).

Click the read more link below to continue

TGS 2007: Has Sony finally figured it out?

Most readers of this site are aware of the PlayStation 3's lackluster sales so far. As of the end of August in the USA and Japan, Sony has sold 2.9 million of its latest generation console, compared to 6.7 million of its main rival Xbox 360s (which did have a one year head start) and 7.4 million units of the less powerful (and cheaper) Nintendo Wii. Many financial analysts and marketing firms, such as the Japanese company Enterbrain (the source for the preceding figures), believe that a price cut would help solidify the PS3's sales, and somewhat expected that announcement to come at the Tokyo Game Show.

Sadly, no such announcement was made. However, the recently appointed head of Sony's videogame division, Kazuo Hirai, did make another important announcement: Sony is re-committing itself to help third-party developers do whatever is necessary to make GOOD GAMES. We've seen in the past that it is the games that make the most difference in a consoles' sales performance. The previous incarnation of Microsoft's Xbox kept competitive because of a few key exclusive titles, most notably the Halo and Knights of the Old Republic series. The long run for Sony and the PS3 may depend on such titles.

Although the PS3 has been losing some exclusive titles to cross console availability (more often the Xbox 360 than the Wii), they still maintain several key franchises which have yet to cross the console gap on their initial release date, such as the Metal Gear Solid series, Final Fantasy XIII, Unreal Tournament 3, Star Ocean and etc. With Sony publicly re-committing itself to the third party developers, perhaps they will be able to retain the exclusive titles they still have, and perhaps add a franchise or two to the list.

In other business news, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that game review sites have become VERY important to developers. So much in fact that game makers such as Activision, Inc. and Take-Two Entertainment have made reviews part of their staff's bonuses!!! It's great to think that sites just like this one can have an effect in either recognizing great staffers or punishing those who fall short of mediocrity. Having recently played Halo 3 (yeah, I know only mere days before its release), I am recommending Bungie to give EVERYONE raises!

Information from the Wall Street Journal was used in this article.

TGS 2007: Walkthough of the games of Tokyo Game Show

I walked past countless booths of seemingly popular franchises that I neither recognized nor were there any English titles involved. Having said that, I did glance at a couple of the more popular titles that we WOULD be seeing in the States, many of which appeared to also be the most popular amongst the Japanese crowd (cough, Metal Gear Solid 4, cough).

As mentioned in a previous musing of mine, the first game that I played at TGS was Halo 3. By the time you read this you'll probably know for yourself, this game rocks. The bubble shield was fun as hell, but very hard to get used to. It will probably take the 7331 gamers out there about 2 seconds to add this item to their Team Deathmatch arsenal, but I could not get the hang of it in a 10 minute session. The 4 player co-op campaign mode looks like it is going to be awesome, but I would suggest ostracizing any players you know of that lag. Of course my connection was perfect in the professionally set-up booth. Some of the new vehicles are wicked cool, and the controls are spot on. One major change is the use of the 'Right Bumper' to pick up weapons and board vehicles, but it freed up some other functionality in the main buttons. Graphics were stunning as were to be expected. The well-known Halo theme translates well to the next generation.

Click the Read More link below

TGS 2007: Konami's Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 vs. EA's FIFA 2008

Being the soccer fan that I am, I was eager to test out Konami's entry into the field of simulated versions of “The Game of Gentlemen”. What I was not expecting was the chance to almost immediately afterwards try out EA's latest offering of video soccer. Let's do this!

Graphics:
Winning Eleven was clearly not finished. The gameplay portion of the game looked great. Just like when watching real soccer on television, widescreen modes made available by the latest generation of consoles really make the game infinitely more enjoyable. Character animations were crisp, and my Brazilians looked like . . . well, Brazilians. The game looked incomplete as soon as I was taken to any video replay screen, however. The animations were choppy and the background crowd looked imported from Super Punch Out. I will not count this against them as I'm sure they will clean this up to be on the high level of the gameplay graphics.

FIFA 2008 was exactly what you would expect from an EA title. The graphics were clean, crisp, practical and completely forgettable. Ronaldhino looked enough like his real life counterpart to be recognizable, yet by no means photorealistic. Replay animations were significantly better than Winning Eleven for reasons already explained above.

Score: 1-1 at the 30th minute.

TGS 2007: First Impressions of the Tokyo Game Show

To anyone that has ever been to the Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3 (before this year's scale back) that thinks they could handle the Tokyo Game Show, I've got news for you. Take the number of nerds running around and multiply that by 2 or 3 (180,000 attendees is the goal this year). Take the number of booth babes and square it (each booth seems to have their own army, all of them HOT Japanese girls and latex seems to be the number one costume choice). Take the craziness and raise it to a power of 10 (everyone seems like they are screaming at ME, and ME alone, and in Japanese!). Finally, take my stress level and set it as the limit of y=x^2 as x approaches infinity!

I am pretty fresh from a red eye that came in overnight from Bangkok, yet my adrenaline kicked in the second I walked in the 'Media' entry. I drank down a liter of water prior to coming in the doors, and it may not be enough for the day. The halls are bigger, but not quite as nice as the Los Angeles Convention Center. All the booths at E3 2006 took care to put carpeting down everywhere, but that is not the case here. Other than the booths, the hall itself looks sort of unfinished, as if each booth is an oasis of technology in a desert of concrete. Add to that technology an absolute plethora times a plethora of booth babes and exhibitors each wanting to hand you some cheap and useless pamphlet (best swag so far: a Dragon Ball Z hand fan which is coming in handy, no pun intended) that think the best way of getting a white guys attention is to scream at him in a language he probably doesn't understand. The mood is set.

I played one and only one game before heading over to the press center to submit my initial thoughts. That game was Halo 3! I know it's coming out in like 3 days but I could not help myself. I am an Xbox 360 supporter and a Halo fan! It looks like we are in for a treat! Added to the vehicles available was a rotary looking deal-e-o (called the Brute Chopper) that looked a lot like the vehicles used by the droid army in the Star Wars prequels, most notably by General Grievous in Episode 3. Luckily I had my trusty plasma rifle and was able to easily dispatch the operator.

It seemed that we were playing some demo mode that involved 8 human players taking on an army of Covenant. It is quite possible that this means that we were playing a large co-op mode, but all the mission objectives that were being listed were in Japanese. I have a bit of a hard time reading Japanese. (Editors note: The entire campaign is online co-op playable.)

No pictures yet because of the WiFi limitations in the so called 'press center' (another downgrade from E3), but at least there is free orange juice and coffee. Too bad I don't drink coffee and double bad that I didn't bring a case of Thai Lipo (original Red Bull that's banned in all but 6 countries!) with me. But I digress. It is time to head back into the fray, my friends. Wish me luck and pray for my survival!