Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Joystiq at the Ninja Gaiden Band concert]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/25/joystiq-at-the-ninja-gaiden-band-concert/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/25/joystiq-at-the-ninja-gaiden-band-concert/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/25/joystiq-at-the-ninja-gaiden-band-concert/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The concept is simple: a four-piece band recreates the soundtrack to the original Ninja Gaiden for NES while one skilled player runs through the game with little effort. You may have heard about this before when they previously performed as Contraband (Contra, natch), Megaband (Mega Man II) and Zeldaband (the first two dungeons of Legend of Zelda).

On Friday, Joystiq attended the Ninja Gaiden Band concert, playing at the Caledonia Lounge as part of Athens, Georgia's annual music festival Athfest (the night prior, Contraband won Cover Band of the Year at the awards show). The band, comprised of the members of Cinemechanica and deft gamer Noah McCarthy, is now a two-year project of splicing classic gaming with musical performance.

Work on the Ninja Gaiden Band began about a month ago, said guitarist Bryant Williamson, speaking to us before the concert. During practice, McCarthy had never had to use a continue, though Williamson said they were prepared in case he had to start over.

McCarthy played on stage using via television while the signal was simultaneously projected onto a screen for the audience to watch. At 1:07 a.m. to a packed crowd, the console was turned on, the title screen came up, and the band counted in.

Gallery: Ninja Gaiden band: 23 June 07

Continue reading Joystiq at the Ninja Gaiden Band concert

JoystiqJoystiq at the Ninja Gaiden Band concert originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>athenscinemechanicacontra bandContraBandmega bandMegaBandmusicNinja-GaidenNinja-Gaiden-SigmaNintendoperformanceTecmozelda bandZeldaBandMon, 25 Jun 2007 07:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Today in Joystiq: January 25, 2007]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/25/today-in-joystiq-january-25-2007/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/25/today-in-joystiq-january-25-2007/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/25/today-in-joystiq-january-25-2007/#commentsFiled under:


Contra + band = Contraband. Two guys, no codes, near flawless play -- and they've got a backing band to play all the music. If you're in the area of Athens, Georgia, they are playing at the Georgia Theatre tomorrow night and this writer, in a Joystiq t-shirt, will be there to enjoy the awesomeness (image credit). So come by and say hi if you see me, and check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
A Joystiq firmware update: new comment logins and site search
Japanese release day highlights: 01.25.07
Joystiq hands-on: The Godfather (PS3/Wii)
Off the Grid: Set and un-fun gaming
Today's most revealing video: Crush gameplay footage

News
Gears of War does the business in Japan
Halo 3 Beta invite guaranteed in every 'initial' copy of Crackdown
Xbox Live threat provokes high school lockdown
Guitar Hero kills desire to start a crappy band
Square Enix licenses Unreal Engine 3
Wii Transfer for Mac OS turns your Wii into a media center, but not really
Wii developer: publishers wary of creating for Nintendo
Wii News Channel to debut this Saturday
Lord of the Rings Online rewards earlier adopters
Sony site confuses GT:HD with PGR3
Not-so-secret projects probed
Westinghouse and the blinking PS3: HDCP gone awry?
Micropayments look small, but are stacking up
Nintendo shipped 4 million Wiis, boosts profits by 43%
Konami ain't afraid of no ghosts in Beatmania
Phil Harrison to give GDC keynote on Game 3.0
Nintendo DS tops 10 million in Western Hemisphere
Unreal Tournament 2007 renamed, confirmed for 360
Sony makes Xbox 360 Ghostbusters game disappear
Call of Duty 3 Valor Map Pack, take two
Too Human emerging from a "very cold place"
Peep Double Dragon's XBLA makeover
Microsoft profits down, Xbox 360 revenues up
New PSone games hit Japanese PlayStation Store
New Havok release supports PS3

Rumors & Speculation
Soft PS3 sales spell trouble for EA, others

Culture
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Obsession
Notable franchises that no longer have game

JoystiqToday in Joystiq: January 25, 2007 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>contracontra bandContraBanddaily recapDailyRecapThu, 25 Jan 2007 23:59:00 EST<![CDATA[Today in Joystiq: January 18, 2007]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/18/today-in-joystiq-january-18-2007/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/18/today-in-joystiq-january-18-2007/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/18/today-in-joystiq-january-18-2007/#commentsFiled under: ,


Being an Athens, Ga local myself, seeing a Joystiq commenter yesterday plug local gaming group Contraband gave me an idea ... I can plug them better. Contraband, where rock group Cinemechanica plays the background music while two costumed players run through Contra with no cheat codes (image credit).

Contraband is taping their show for a DVD on January 26 at local venue Georgia Theatre. Say hi to the awesome kid in a Joystiq shirt if you do show up.

Where was I? Oh yeah, check out the highlights for today.

Joystiquery
Off the Grid: Scrabble and the elusive letter "Q"
Japanese release day highlights: 01.18.07
Joystiq hands-on: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Wii)
Today's least gamey game video: WarioWare Smooth Moves Australian TV Spot

News
WOW Action Figures marauding this fall
Bethesda (finally) confirms Shivering Isles Oblivion expansion
Gates: If you want to play online, get an Xbox
Mac OS X port, as well as new world, added to Myst Online
Microsoft says "over half" of 360 buyers didn't own Xbox 1
Rap song samples extensively from C64 demo
Where's flOw?
Pedestrians spotted in Burnout 5
Comparing XB Live, PS Network, and WiiConnect24 as is
EA exec on display at Game On London
Final Fantasy XIII demo expected at E3
New Lumines Live! content out next Wednesday
Call of Duty 3 map pack downloads, then disappears
BioWare embracing episodic content for all future projects
Koei's Fatal Inertia, Bladestorm to miss Euro PS3 launch

Rumors & Speculation
Can the PS3 be saved?
Rhythm rumor: Activision trademarks 'Guitar Villain', 'Drum Villain'
New Final Fantasy spinoff headed for PSP this year?
Rumor: 3rd party cables void the PS3 warranty
Is Sega cutting off Dreamcast disc production?

Culture
PlayStation teaches 9-year-old how to steal his third car?
Learn Chinese through an MMO
Historical figures and game addiction
Twist to fitness with $1700 hover-chair controller
Challenging the conventional wisdom of innovative games
Silver PS3 spotted in the wild
Personalize your own Zelda "take this" scene
Steer your anti-sniper bot with an Xbox pad

JoystiqToday in Joystiq: January 18, 2007 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Cinemechanicacontracontra bandContraBanddaily recapDailyRecapThu, 18 Jan 2007 23:59:00 EST<![CDATA[Games rank low on worldwide contraband chart]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/29/games-rank-low-on-worldwide-contraband-chart/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/29/games-rank-low-on-worldwide-contraband-chart/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/29/games-rank-low-on-worldwide-contraband-chart/#commentsFiled under: , ,

a'hoy!The pirated video games market might be valued at $3 billion, but that figure is paled by the gobs of cash circulating the pirated movies ($18.2 billion) and software ($34 billion) trades. Indeed, pirated games rank a lowly 25th among the world's leading illegal markets; perhaps a testament to gamers' respect for game makers.

Then again, if today's pirated games were as easy to play as pirated films are to view -- or as simple to install as pirated software -- we'd likely see a shift in the contraband rankings chart. Remember Dreamcast? There's a reason why console security has tightened over the years.

[Via The Last Boss]

JoystiqGames rank low on worldwide contraband chart originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>contrabandpiracyWed, 29 Nov 2006 16:25:00 EST