If you’ve always wanted to have your own soundtrack, then check out SynchStep for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
SynchStep taps into the iPhone and iPod Touch’s motion sensor, and matches your music library to your pace. The result is that “every step you take lands in-time with a drum hit, a bass pluck, a piano chord”.
Unfortunately the beat that follows your feet is only available in “sucktacular beta” for now, but when the SDK goes live, prepare yourself for tons of fantastic apps just like this one.
Usually around the third or fourth iteration of a popular game, the designers decide that there are enough fans to warrant a special collector’s edition.
Though collector’s editions usually filled with a bunch of stuff that no one needs, they’re gobbled up by hard-core fans that want to raise their 1337 level by a few points at the next gaming get-together.
Apparently Grand Theft Auto has reached that point, because with the release of GTAIV coming up, they’ve announced a pre-orderable special edition that comes with a metal safety deposit box, special packaging, an art book with never-before-seen production artwork, a soundtrack CD filled with exclusive material, a Rockstar keychain, and a duffel bag to hold it all. Plus, order through Amazon, and you’ll even get a Liberty City license plate to round out the collection!
In addition to being one of the best films of the year, Juno also has a few more things going for it:
1. One of the best opening title sequences I’ve seen in a while. The hand-made sequence was created by Shadowplay Studio, and lends itself nicely to the quirky and creative tone of the film itself.
2. A great soundtrack with a great ecard creation tool/marketing ploy. Just upload your face, add pieces of Juno flair, and send to a friend. You’ll be part of the Junoverse in no time.
Whoever designs the packaging for The Simpsons disks must not know anything about the typical shelf, because they seem to prefer things that are more round than square.
The soundtrack for The Simpsons Movie is no different, and it comes in its own donut.
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.
