Jedi Fanboi vs. Noob!

There is an odd line in the game review of Star Wars: the Force Unleashed over at the Wired.com blog. The author states,
“I don’t know much about Star Wars.”

I was taken aback. How the hell could they expect someone who is a self-admitted Star Wars Noob review this game? Are they seriously suggesting that it is OK for some jerk who doesn’t care about Star Wars to get a copy in advance, and then gets to offer opinions to the world on the game?

Oh hell no. That is not a good idea, that is a slap in the face.

Am I fanboi? Probably. But whether or not I am doesn’t matter. What does matter is some flippant jerk got to review this game for the entire world and he doesn’t really give two-cents about the Star Wars fanbois across the globe!

I am also a Lucas Arts fanboi. I have played a variety of games from back in the 1990s up until now. I have several opinions about the good, the bad, and the laggy. I have opinions about why some games were better than others, and why I skipped some titles altogether. (Mostly drunkenness).

I don’t generally flame how a company decides to do business, but the Star Wars franchise is just that, a franchise. Even if they secretly mock us behind closed doors while sipping latte and eating their granola bars, they could at least assign this gaming topic to someone who has at least a little consideration for the fanbois. That would be far, far better than some fly-by-night hack who can’t tell a Wookie from a Wendigo.

Three Ways to Improve Rock Band

I’ve been playing Rock Band for a few weeks now and I’ve concluded that it’s a great social game.  However, it could be improved.  Here’s how:

1  Multiple instrument support.  If a song has two percussionists we should be able to use two drum sets.  Same for two guitar songs and especially for backing vocals.

2  Different peripheral support.  I don’t just mean the keyboard device.  I want dance pad support for dancers.  Light gun support for security, it could be a taser to keep the crowd from rushing the stage.   Camera support for gratuitous groupie flashing.  Rob the Video Robot support for… well…  I don’t know but  you get the idea.

3  More diverse music.  After looking at many of the forums about the downloadable content for Rock Band I’ve determined that I’m the only person on earth excited for the Grateful Dead pack (all 18 songs–I’d even take different live versions of each).  I still want more diverse stuff though.  Especially the BEATLES.  I want every song recorded by the Beatles.  They could be released chronologically, a couple songs at a time or as one giant pack…  whatever, just give me every Beatles song.