Powerglove

My friend Joe turned me on to this awesome band not too long ago called Powerglove. They're a speed metal band with one focus: video game music. Iconic video game music.

They've done metal adaptations of things like Tetris, Mario, Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Megaman. Anything iconic from your childhood is fair game.

The concert took place at this hole in the wall in Cleveland called Peabody's. I mean, this place is such a crappy place that there aren't even doors on the bathroom stalls. Only one of the sinks works, and it only has cold water. The place is painted black throughout the whole inside, and, actually, it's kind of kickass, as long as you don't need to use the bathroom. Peabody's is in downtown Cleveland, and it is so popular the concert had a line stretching all the way around the left corner of the block (which is a feat considering that Peabody's is on the right corner of the block). And the place was so packed, their general rule of "no moshing" really didn't apply.

So Powerglove was opening for Symphony X, which is an awesome band, although I've unfortunately heard too little of their stuff to be a fan. There were also two standard hardcore opening bands from around Cleveland. Neither of the bands sounded particularly interesting enough to become successful. The metal and punk scenes are already overcrowded with hardcore at this point. Powerglove played their song "Storm Eagle," which is from the Megaman X bird miniboss if any of you remember (tell me if I'm wrong). They also played a song I hadn't heard yet that my friend had said was from Final Fantasy 6, and they played an adaptation of the Pokemon cartoon theme song (which isn't technically a video game song, but there are Pokemon video games, so we'll let it slide).

It was, for lack of a better word, awesome. I would definitely recommend to anybody these two bands:

Symphony X
Powerglove

PSP 2?

Sony is currently developing a second PlayStation portable device.  They're currently calling it the NGP, or the Next Generation Portable.  It looks like it's truly going to revolutionize their portable gaming sector.

The PSP itself is a pretty disappointing product.  This isn't because it isn't user-friendly or capable, but because it was overshadowed by the Nintendo DS, which decided to add a revolutionary touchscreen that is actually usable for many of its games.  Also, the PSP has such a small selection of good games.  Sony focused far too much on making the PSP versatile and high-performance and not enough on getting contracts for successful games.  The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, revolutionized handheld gameplay.

The so-called NGP looks like it may actually be able to turn the tides when it comes to handhelds.  It offers a lot of new specs:

- Two Analog Sticks (the PSP has one)
- Front and Rear Cameras (DS and PSP have none - skype, anyone?)
- Front Multitouch display and a Multitouch rear pad (to be used like a laptop mouse maybe?)
- GPS (that's right.  lost?  Pull out the NGP)
- SIXAXIS motion sensors (the same technology PS3 uses in its controllers for games like Uncharted (one) and GTA 4 - I'm not a fan of this, but if you are, whatever floats your boat)
- 3 axis Electronic compass (yeah.  a 3d compass.  'nough said)
- 5 inch OLED display (far outshines DS - did I mention that this display is touchscreen?)
- Wifi and 3G connectivity
- Location-based multiplayer (find others to play against based on location - also completely wireless)

And they're already working on developing games for it, and they're advertising that they will actually be worth buying.  I'm still skeptical on this, but they are making a new Uncharted game for it, temporarily dubbed "Uncharted Portable," and I am definitely  excited for that.  So far the Uncharted franchise has yet to disappoint.  Let's hope they can keep it up.

For more information on this portable device, you can go to this link:
Sony - Next Generation Portable

We're talking about what essentially could be a iTouch for gamers, but made with Sony technology, which (in my opinion) outshines Apple technology.

Will it be successful?  Only time will tell.

I'm excited.