Though I haven’t had a chance to play it (which saddens me because it looks awesome), Gears of War is supposedly the game that will transform the Xbox 360 from another next gen into the must have system (sorry PS3, keep trying). One interesting fallout of the Gears of War popularity is the rise in popularity of the song that takes center stage in the ominous commercial. Just like the original Bravia commercial put José González’s “Heartbeats” song on the map, Gears of War has propelled “Mad World” (a cover of Tears for Fears’ 1982 hit performed by Gary Jules in 2001 for the Donnie Darko soundtrack) to the top of the iTunes download charts. I must say that I was one of the masses that downloaded this song based solely on the minute you hear during the commercial, but it’s one of those songs that just oozes emotion, and I love it for that. So go get yourself a copy, you know you want to.
RIP AllofMP3.com, I only wish I could have known you better. The used to be secret spot for downloading full quality music at your quality of choice without the hassle of DRM has finally succumb to its own popularity, as Russia has finally agreed to the US’s (RIAA’s) demands to shut it down. Though I must say I knew at some point that it would get shut down (if it seems too good to be true…), but I was actually surprised by how long they managed to stay in business. Even with this latest nail in the coffin, they still stand by their statement that what they are doing is not illegal (though I don’t think it will help much at this point). If only the record labels would have learned a lesson from AllofMP3’s popularity, instead of spending all of their time trying to shut it down, we might finally have a music download system that makes sense (and dollars) in the US. Oh well, I guess it’s back to P2P networks then until the record companies can figure things out. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me.
