Summer is in full swing. There is nothing quite like being able to go outside at two o'clock in the morning in a T-shirt and not feel cold. I'm enjoying getting my bike out on the road again; pedaling in one place on a wind trainer just isn't as thrilling as watching rolling scenery. Cruising down the road in my little blue Yaris with my blue Ray Bans and music exploding out of my open windows probably defines summer gladness the best of all, well, almost. I'd by lying if I didn't admit the coolest thing about summer is the Steam sale. It's the best excuse I have for staying inside avoiding the sunrays and paying the neighbor kid to mow my yard!
1. Black Tie Dynasty Movements on CD
A hundred and fifty years from now on some faraway space station or on an Earth occupied moon base there will be a nightclub hosting a nostalgia night. And on that night a band will play Earth music from the 1960's. Black Tie Dynasty will be that band. Okay, probably not, the members of this fantabulous band will be the stuff of history by that time. I'll put it this way, it will be a band that sounds like Black Tie Dynasty because this band is like something out of a time machine. How's this for a paradox? A band from the future that plays old music from the 1960's. That's Black Tie Dynasty for you. Their craft is a hint of shoeglaze mixed with a Dick Dale beach sound twinged with tie dye T-shirts and psychedelic plastic furniture. Look up "Bells" on Youtube and give it a listen, and then you'll feel the "groovy waves" too.
2. A Midnight Clear by William Wharton
There was a great movie that came out decades ago about a band of US Army soldiers in the Ardennes forest holed up in a chateau, trapped behind enemy lines in 1944. Over Christmas they strike up a friendship with a band of ragtag German soldiers caught in the same predicament. The movie was predictable and not a big budget movie, but it had some profound scenes in it that made me think of the movie long after I saw it. It was interesting to find out William Wharton penned the novel, the same guy who wrote Birdy. Birdy was a movie starring Nicholas Cage and Matthew Modine I was also very fond of. I stumbled across this novel at my local library book sale recently, and it's every bit as profoundly written as the screenplay was for the movie. "I looked at him, in the foxhole with me, sitting there with his Garand on his knees, and in that moment he was a statue inside of himself. I was absorbing my mind's future picture of him." I love writing like that.
There was a great movie that came out decades ago about a band of US Army soldiers in the Ardennes forest holed up in a chateau, trapped behind enemy lines in 1944. Over Christmas they strike up a friendship with a band of ragtag German soldiers caught in the same predicament. The movie was predictable and not a big budget movie, but it had some profound scenes in it that made me think of the movie long after I saw it. It was interesting to find out William Wharton penned the novel, the same guy who wrote Birdy. Birdy was a movie starring Nicholas Cage and Matthew Modine I was also very fond of. I stumbled across this novel at my local library book sale recently, and it's every bit as profoundly written as the screenplay was for the movie. "I looked at him, in the foxhole with me, sitting there with his Garand on his knees, and in that moment he was a statue inside of himself. I was absorbing my mind's future picture of him." I love writing like that.
3. The Strangers on Blu-Ray
Have you ever watched a movie that changed your life? I mean really caused you to look at the world in a different way? This movie did that for me. And not in a wholesome Andy Griffith show kind of way. I used to have a shotgun I kept in the box it came in. I kept the shells a distance away. After watching this movie when it was released, it became my new "scariest" modern movie. (Exorcist III will forever hold that title for me as far as older movies go.) Examined closely, this is a simple movie that could have been part of a college three day weekend class shoot. But of course, its subtlety wins out and rules the day. I don't suggest seeing it alone. Oh, that big change that occurred because of this movie? Simple. My shells and my shotgun are no longer separated.
Have you ever watched a movie that changed your life? I mean really caused you to look at the world in a different way? This movie did that for me. And not in a wholesome Andy Griffith show kind of way. I used to have a shotgun I kept in the box it came in. I kept the shells a distance away. After watching this movie when it was released, it became my new "scariest" modern movie. (Exorcist III will forever hold that title for me as far as older movies go.) Examined closely, this is a simple movie that could have been part of a college three day weekend class shoot. But of course, its subtlety wins out and rules the day. I don't suggest seeing it alone. Oh, that big change that occurred because of this movie? Simple. My shells and my shotgun are no longer separated.
4. The Wild Wild West Season 4 on DVD
I can finally say I've seen every episode now. Like so many shows from the 1960's it started out serious and adult, and eroded into camp and if not for the violence (which caused the show's end despite its great ratings at the time) the last season might have been more appropriate for Saturday morning television. Gunfights accompanied by music that sounds like the music from The Price is Right game show, or seeing James West thundering across a desert plain on his horse with The Beach Boys guitar music in the background just makes it hard to watch this last season with a straight face. I will still maintain, however, that James West was my hero as a kid. And this show, which had inspirations from H.G. Wells and Jules Verne was one of the first appearances of a Steampunk universe on television. Now, I need to find a Wild Wild West lunchbox!
5. Steam
I mentioned this earlier, but Steam is taking up a large slice of my time this month. For all of my non-gaming friends out there, Steam is a digital PC gaming distribution vehicle created and maintained by the Valve corporation. It debuted in 2003 but came up to the forefront in 2004 with the release of Valve's own Half Life 2. It's recognized now for not only its efficiency as a digital game distributor but also as a social network. As a matter of fact, I was a big proponent of Xfire as far as contacting and communicating with my gaming buddies, and I loved the way Xfire tracked and recorded every hour spent in a game. Unfortunately, Xfire has become so bugged lately I have a few games now that simply will not boot up if I have Xfire running. I hate that this is happening. I will sorely miss Xfire, but Steam is definitely taking up the slack. And then of course, let's not forget the Steam sales. These have become a summer highlight as well as a Christmas highlight. I picked up FarCry 3 for $7.49 on one of these sales, not to mention the games I purchased from three sales ago that I've still not played. Steam is proof to the old adage, "an embarrassment of riches."
6. Unity of Command on PC
Speaking of a Steam sale, this was a small gem I picked up during one of Steam's midweek madness sales. It's a World War II strategy game centering on Germany's invasion of Russia in 1941. This is no Axis & Allies or a facsimile of an Avalon Hill game. This is more of a "beer & pretzel" type strategy game with uncomplicated scenarios. There are a lot of stats and much information in the game, but that heavy lifting is all done by the computer. This game focuses on the supply factor involved in the Russian and German war machines, and could in a way be considered a rudimentary history lesson on how armies run on their stomachs. This game is on par with the venerable Panzer Command.
7. Need For Speed: Undercover on PC
Released in 2008, this game is probably the most fun I've had with a NFS title. You play an undercover cop who has to ingratiate yourself with street racer gangs by attracting the police, and not in a good way. You lure them into high speed chases and take out their cars, and do damage to state buildings and structures eventually becoming poised to take down each street racer gang leader. The game is filled with great cut scenes populated by hammy over the top actors that look like they were turned down from the kind of low budget movies you see released straight to video. The game is not rigidly structured like former NFS titles. Instead, you're free to take on any job, race, or cop takeout you want to, in any order, confident that any task you do is going to warm the hearts of the gang leaders you're trying to win over.
8. Grid 2 on PC
And upon completing NFS: Undercover I began playing Grid 2. I had fond memories of the original Grid back in 2010. This one almost seems to suffer a bit from consolitis. It doesn't seem as polished as the original, and when I hooked up my Logitech G27 wheel/paddle set to it, it shook the hell out of my arms. I don't know if this is supposed to reflect authenticity or is a mechanical quirk with the setup, but once I switched to my Xbox controller I found the races substantially easier. There is no cockpit view, another dead giveaway this game was created with the PC in the back of the developer's minds which is odd given that Codemasters in the old days were at the forefront of PC gaming. But the thing the game has going for it is it's absolutely gorgeous to behold. The eye candy, and the attention to details as far as the graphics go make it a winner. I've only started it, but I'm already knocking out my fair share of Steam achievements.
9. Tropico 5 on PC
I had this game wishlisted when Steam announced its initial release. I'm such a fan of SimCity that this game had a special appeal to me. And lo and behold, a friend of mine, CharredChar (on Steam) gifted it to me and three other friends so we could all play multiplayer together. This is one of the nicest gestures one of my gaming buddies has done this year. The game has a humorous bent, nothing on par with SimCity, and it micromanages on a much smaller scale as well. I'm trying to get through the campaigns so I can do the game justice on multiplay. I've never played a Tropico game before, and I've discovered one certainly doesn't need to have previous experience with the series to enjoy this one. If you're hankering for a good strategy game that doesn't require the thought process of Civilization 5, but does involve a little more involvement than SimCity this might very well be your ticket to paradise.
