Top Fives

[Spoonie]

Great topic! These are the five that stick with me most fondly

1. Mega Bomberman (Mega Drive)

2. Tetris (GameBoy)

3. Micro Machines 2 Turbo Tournament Edition (Mega Drive)

4. Super Mario Land 3 - Wario Land  (GameBoy)

5. Halo (Xbox)

[Lemonade]

13 minutes ago, Spoonie said:

Great topic! These are the five that stick with me most fondly

1. Mega Bomberman (Mega Drive)

2. Tetris (GameBoy)

3. Micro Machines 2 Turbo Tournament Edition (Mega Drive)

4. Super Mario Land 3 - Wario Land  (GameBoy)

5. Halo (Xbox)

I had a mate over for a Megadrive night last weekend, played Mega Bomberman and Micro Machines 2. Super lols. I love Bomberman. 

[Lemonade]

3 hours ago, Lemonade said:

Not counting the Football Manager series because I can't really pick one favourite from the series. Same with a lot of sports series. I played the shit out of one of the Tiger Woods games on PS2 but I can't remember which one.

 

1 - Batman: Arkham Asylum (XBox 360)

2- Goldeneye (N64)

3 - Mario Kart DS (DS)

4 - Road Rash 2 (Sega Megadrive)

5 - Tomb Raider 2 (PS1)

 

Honorable mentions: Streets Of Rage 2, Golden Axe, Sonic The Hedgehog 1 and 2 for Megadrive. Tony Hawks Underground and Tony Hawks American Wasteland for PS2. Most of that series tbh. GTA Vice City and San Andreas for PS2, GTA 4 on 360. Castlevania on NES. EA Hockey series on Megadrive. TOCA Touring Cars on PS1. Michael Jackson's Moonwalker on Megadrive. California Games on Sega Master System. Micro Machines 2 on Megadrive for 4 player madness with mates.

 

 

Seems there's a sort of spritual successor to Road Rash on the way. Which would be cool. It's been too long since the excellent PS1 game, with its Soundgarden soundtrack.

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/new-road-rash-game-road-rage-wants-scratch-your-motorcycle-combat-itch-515382

And yes I did just quote myself.

[Alkaline]

Top 5 Games (in no particular order):

Secret of Monkey Island

Final Fantasy 7

Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters

The Last of Us

Metal Gear Solid

[Stroopy121]

16 hours ago, Soda van Jerk said:

Jail.

You end up in jail.

Stealing the hard work of defunct developers originally released on a format no longer made or in circulation. FOR SHAME!

 

 

 

is there a non-phone/tablet version I Can use on my laptop?

Retroarch / Emulation Station.

 

xx

[Spoonie]

18 hours ago, Lemonade said:

I had a mate over for a Megadrive night last weekend, played Mega Bomberman and Micro Machines 2. Super lols. I love Bomberman. 

Bomberman multi player is as good as gaming gets. So simple in concept but absolutely magic. Just enough of an element of luck to level the playing field a bit, without removing the skill. I've long considered a Bomberman tattoo based on the versions of the characters in that game.

[Teabags]

Puzzle Bobble 4 multiplayer is amazing. If youse haven't played it I highly suggest you do. We went to a pub in London that had a MAME emulator setup with 2 joysticks on a 10 foot projector and got games of it.



Was fucking amazing.

[Spoonie]

There's a pub in Leith called Mousetrap who have an emulator set up on one of the Rasberry Pi things, with emulators for all the old consoles and millions of games. Anyone have any experience of building or designing that kind of thing?

[ca_gere]

I made one. Easy as... well pi.

this is exactly what I did word for word (except a bit of tweaking when it came to formatting the micro sd coz I was using mac) 

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-turn-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-retro-game-console-498561192

It's pretty amazing having literally every game ever made for every retro console.

A few tips:

use as big an sd as you can

Dont just download and install ALL games you find in the torrents/files you find online because there are a ton of dupes (e.g. European version, us version of the same game) and obscure Japanese games you'll never play.

[Spoonie]

Ace - thank you!

I noticed with the emulator that they had in Mousetrap that the list of games had exactly that - a tonne of versions of the same things from different countries

[scottyboy]

i think there was a whole best games ever thread (maybe even top 5; pretty sure I posted 5 anyway). Anyway, here's mine in chronological-ish order:

1. ICO (PS2; and way ahead at no. 1)

2. Baldur's Gate (PC)

3. G-Police (PS, OG)

4. Toejam & Earl (Mega Drive)

5. Mutant League Football  (Mega Drive; never even liked American handball)

On the subject of emulators, I used "Gens" (or something like that; mentioned further up) for several years until pretty recently, for Mega Drive games (and on laptops and desktops). I had working ones for SNES and (with a bit of coaxing) Amiga, too; but can't remember the names.

[Stroopy121]

No particular order

Skyrim (racked up 100s of hours on xbox360 then when it RRODd I bought it on pc and racked up 100s more.)

A Link to the Past

Assassin's Creed (all of then.  Even the shite ones are alright.)

Batman Arkham (all of them. Gaming perfection)

Pokemon (RBY especially but all of them too)

xx

[Soda Jerk]

Top Five Musicians. Those musicians that rock you no matter what band/project they're playing in.

 

1. Justin K Broadrick - Godflesh, Jesu, Greymachine, early-Scorn, JK Flesh, Ice, Final, Pale Sketcher. I love it all. Everything he does really resonates with me. There's not really anything he's made a major involvement in that I haven't liked.

2. Duncan Redmonds - Snuff, GnW, Billy No Mates, Pot Kettle Black, Dogpiss. As above. Everything he does is gold. By far my favourite punk musician and songwriter.

3. MF Doom - He's done a couple of things that haven't grabbed me, but the majority of it is excellent. The collaboration records especially.

4. Chris Spencer - Unsane, Cutthroats 9, Celan, UXO. He pretty much writes the same song, and finely tweaks it. If it ain't broke, and all that.

5. Geoff Farina - Karate, Secret Stars, Ardecore, Glorytellers, Exit Verse and countless collaborations. Even his really wanky jazzy solo stuff is worth a listen. He's a tremendously good guitar player. His output is incredibly diverse.

 

Yours don't have to be musicians who have done loads of different stuff. Just musicians that make you go fuck yeah!

Edited September 16, 2016 by Soda van Jerk

[colb]

Good topic

Jeff Tweedy - Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Tweedy etc. Straight toss up between Tweedy and Springsteen as the American songwriter here, Tweedy wins because he probably wouldn't let Tom Morello join Wilco. 

Norman Blake - Teenage Fanclub. When I was 16 he was making awesome noisy fuzzy pop music, And we've aged and and mellowed together. Everything Teenage Fanclub release feels good to me, but I've always preferred his songs. 

Dan Smith - Listener. Does one thing, but it's really really fucking good. 

Steve Albini - Brutal, awesomely brutal. Some of the best gigs I've been to have been Shellac. Also, I agree with him about the music industry and Urge Overkill. 

Dave Knudson - Botch, Minus the Bear. The best guitarist. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Teabags]

RZA - Wu-Tang, obviously, but the rest of the things he's got his name on are staggering.

Matt Domino - Infest, Neanderthal, Manpig, Low Threat Profile... the guy's a legend.

Chris Dodge - Spazz, No Use For A Name, Infest, Low Threat Profile, Hellnation, Slap A Ham Records... again, a legend.

Al Jourgensen - Like most things he puts his name on.

Tomas Lindberg - At The Gates, Skitsystem, Lock Up, Disfear, The Crown and more. Only one from the list that I've met and he was sound as fuck to boot.

[Lemonade]

1. Jack White - my guitar hero. Not the most technical player by any stretch but his guitar works sounds so alive, so emotive. Plays entirely from the heart and I got mad respect for that. I'll listen to almost anything he's done but nothing sounds better than the White Stripes. Their rawness completely suits his style. 

2. Ben Folds. Seen him on his own, seen him with Ben Folds Five, seen him play with a full orchestra and he's always amazing. Seen him improvise entire songs on the spot. Seen him improvise a song on the spot while also telling the orchestra what to play along with him. Seen him play a 20 minute piano concerto he composed. And on top of it all writes such beautiful songs. 

3. Kathleen Hanna. Frontwoman of not one, not two, but three of my favourite bands. 

4. Brian Wilson. Legitimate genius. Strongly recommend anyone to read To Catch A Wave for details of the way he wrote and recorded the Beach Boys stuff. Fascinating. 

5. Beck. No explanation needed. He's fucking Beck. This remains my favourite ever live performance. 

[Mr Owl PhD]

Guess I'm mostly going with people who've been around a while so have stood the test of time in the continuously impressive stakes.

1. Mary Timony - Great in everything she's done from Autoclave in the early 90s, through Helium, through loads of underappreciated solo records to Wild Flag and Ex Hex.  Always distintive and trying different things.  Met her last year and she's also totally nice and entertaining too.

2. Robert Pollard - Not sure I need to say much about Mr GBV.  Something like a couple of thousand songs to his name over 30+ years.  A lot of them are better than great.

3. Rachel Grimes - Was in the 'indie classical' pioneers Rachels during the 90s and early 2000s and then has done some magnificent solo work in more recent years.  Always thought she was miles better than most other artists doing this sort of stuff.  Was also in the very good alt-country band King's Daughters and Sons and features on RM Hubbert's new album.  I see her name on a record and I know it'll be great.

4. Malcolm Middleton - I could put Aidan Moffat but I'm not sure Malky gets as much credit for being consistently brilliant over twenty years.  Every record he puts out has several total gems on it.  That one he did the other year with David Shrigley was a laugh.

5. Karin Dreijer Andersson - One half of the Knife and all of Fever Ray.  I don't know what she'll do next but it will be blistering.

[waltz]

1-4 Pitbull

5 Pitbull (ft Christina Aguilera)

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

Honorable mention to Pitbull and Ke$ha.

[Lemonade]

No love for Daddy Yankee ft Pitbull? 

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

I he the candle guy?

[Spoonie]

Is the current topic "list five people, at least four of whom Spoonie has never heard of"?

[Lemonade]

1 hour ago, Hakuba Mountain Wizards said:

I he the candle guy?

I used this chorus in a Cobra Kai song. 

 

[kirsten]

On 9/18/2016 at 3:15 PM, Mr Owl PhD said:

Guess I'm mostly going with people who've been around a while so have stood the test of time in the continuously impressive stakes.

1. Mary Timony - Great in everything she's done from Autoclave in the early 90s, through Helium, through loads of underappreciated solo records to Wild Flag and Ex Hex.  Always distintive and trying different things.  Met her last year and she's also totally nice and entertaining too.

2. Robert Pollard - Not sure I need to say much about Mr GBV.  Something like a couple of thousand songs to his name over 30+ years.  A lot of them are better than great.

3. Rachel Grimes - Was in the 'indie classical' pioneers Rachels during the 90s and early 2000s and then has done some magnificent solo work in more recent years.  Always thought she was miles better than most other artists doing this sort of stuff.  Was also in the very good alt-country band King's Daughters and Sons and features on RM Hubbert's new album.  I see her name on a record and I know it'll be great.

4. Malcolm Middleton - I could put Aidan Moffat but I'm not sure Malky gets as much credit for being consistently brilliant over twenty years.  Every record he puts out has several total gems on it.  That one he did the other year with David Shrigley was a laugh.

5. Karin Dreijer Andersson - One half of the Knife and all of Fever Ray.  I don't know what she'll do next but it will be blistering.

<3 Timony and Pollard! 

My favourite musicians are so due to a mix of personality and musical ability, so apologies for these descriptions.

1. Jon Wurster - He's a p great drummer which is fine on its own, but I was thinking about this the other day and he's got some link to all of my favourite bands/musicians in some way. He has played with Superchunk for about 25 years, the Mountain Goats for the last decade, Bob Mould band for a good few years too, and even played with Guided By Voices once and with Bob Pollard on solo stuff, I think. Also he's funny as hell and SO HANDSOME! Guess how old he is. Go on, guess.

HE WILL BE 50 NEXT MONTH!!!

2. Robert Pollard - I agree with Mr Owl! He's such an enigma. He's insanely prolific but weirdly the good:shit songs ratio is 30:1 and I don't understand how this has happened. I love that he's kind of an asshole and basically a big jock, getting hammered on stage every single gig without fail, and perpetuating great myths about his baseball career when he was younger, but he can write incredibly beautiful, thoughtful songs. I saw Owen Pallett do a lovely version of GBV's 'Game Of Pricks' as the AV Club's Undercover series and he said that before they recorded it, he didn't realise that it contained the words "weep to water the trees" and neither had I until it was pointed out. Bloody beautiful! Guided By Voices have been my favourite band (or at least on rotation in my top three) for about a decade and I finally got to see them live on Saturday. I now want to follow them around and make them my Grateful Dead until Bob's liver finally packs in...

3. Georgia Hubley - She's just fantastic. I only really know her from Yo La Tengo, but she crops up everywhere and it always makes sense. She's such a talented multi-instrumentalist. I love her drumming and how she can go from super laid back and chilled to weirdo experimental freak outs in the space of one song. And her voice is just so so sweet. And she's a Mets fan. 

4. John Darnielle - Also prolific as fuck and never puts out a bad record. The ability to write heartfelt confessional albums, opening up about substance misuse and being abused by his stepdad, then to come out with one about pro-wrestling is a-okay with me. One of the greatest living lyricists without a doubt. Actually, just a tremendous writer in general. Check out his novel Wolf In White Van if you like dark stories about play-by-mail role-playing games.

5. Jeffrey Lewis - He's been going forever and is a cult hero but still completely DIY and I love that. You'll never have to pay extortionate amounts to see him live and you'll always have the best time, no matter which incarnation of band he's playing with. An annoyingly talented musician, lyricist and artist. I have still yet to come across a bad, or even underwhelming Jeffrey Lewis album. 

 

Honorable mentions for Marnie Stern, Carrie Brownstein, Jarvis Cocker, King Khan and Mac McCaughan

[scottyboy]

Here's mine, I think. There's no one I really like for being in a million great projects, and my favourite bands I think are great bands, particularly (i.e. Janes Addiction and not the Panic Channel or One Hot Minute) and Tool (and not Puscifer, which I had to Google). There would easily be a half-dozen or more guitarists if this were a top 10, but which I can't pick one over the other for a top 5.

1. Shawn Lane. My bestest of bestest guitarists. I'm actually just a huge fan of 1 of his 2 solo albums; and, it being my favourite solo ever, which needs to be time-capsuled and blasted into space, an off-the-cuff solo he did on a Beatles cover with Paul Gilbert, at some trade show. His other album and the out-there Indian fusion stuff he did with Jonas Hellborg (though whose name I still have to google) later on I enjoy when I do check it out. He was also in some middleweight Southern rawk band which opened for a lot of prog dinosaurs when he was 14, and there's youtube footage of him doing disgusting shredporn which makes Eddie Van Halen look slow and tasteful, when Lane was 16 and about a year after Van Halen came out. Which is kinda cool.

2. My other bestest guitarist (though if I have to pick one, I pick lane). Again for his only solo album. He's also a (somewhat) famous-from-youtube guy who has some outrageous bits and pieces that someone captured while he was being paid to try and flog some gear or whatever. He does have a few albums out with a prog-fusion Zappa-worship super-muso-group which, if not one of my favourite bands ever, for the records, tbh, is pretty incredible live.

3. Plini (nope, don't think even the internets has his real full name). My new favourite guitarist. Just getting into his brand new debut "full length" record, but he has a trio of sublime, perfect EPs. I've seen him about the internet doing split EPs, guest appearances etc. with other bedroom musos/producers and he seems to have a midas touch for making the music of skilled but uninspiring shredders into massive tunefests.

4. Tomas Haake. The drummer in Meshuggah, one of my favourite bands. Not like I'm a big follower of him personally, him being a drummer; but Meshuggah having a new album out soon, he's being interviews about the writing (on his own, without the rest of the band) and I realised that, if not being the auteur, he's a huge driving force behind the whole band. Does the drums obviously, but also the lyrics, kinda the vocal lines (them being pretty all rhythmic too) and often the general idea for the riffage.

5. Hiromi Uehara. Pianist. Not someone to whom I've necessarily listened a huge amount, or owned a load of albums; but whatever she's doing will have one's jaw on the floor. Incredibly skilled and unique, plainly even to a cloth-eared guitar fan such as I. While I like jazz, I think it's perversely hard for musicians, great though they may be, to really stand out because of the genre's ALL THE NOTES ALL THE TIME FOR HOURS nature (and the whole standards addiction). And, anyway, she does.