Bit by Bit: May 2014

May has been one interesting month.  As we inch ever so closer to the biggest video game trade show of the year, the focus of game developers, publishers and journalists has slowly shifted to E3 2014.  Every piece of information released or news story ran relates back to E3.  Considering all the questions leading into the event, E3 2014 should be either an exciting onslaught of brand new games or a disappointing slog of new information for already announced games.  Personally, I am hoping for the former because I want to see the games that will truly get people excited about spending over 500 dollars on the current generation of gaming.  As of right now, all this generation has given us is shinier graphics and a massive drought of games.  We will see what the future of gaming is next month, but before that let us take a look at the month that was May 2014.

Game of the Month
Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Mario Golf: World Tour both came out on the same Friday at the very beginning of May and these are the two games that captured most of my time this past month.  Out of these two game, there can only be one Game of the Month.  The game that earns that title is Mario Golf: World Tour.  It has been a long time since Mario Golf graced a Nintendo system and World Tour is a return to what gamers loved about Camelot's golf game now turned up to eleven.  Early on your time will be mostly dedicated to the single-player Castle Club as you play in tournaments to improve your Mii's handicap, earn new attire and equipment and prepare yourself for online.  After some time in Castle Club, you will be ready to hit the online links where the meat and potatoes of World Tour is.  The online in World Tour is great as you play rounds against players around the world or in your region at your own pace.  Once you complete a round, you can post your score to the tournament or play again and see if you can do better.  The online is incredibly smooth and hardly caused a problem for yours truly.  Scouring new tournaments each and every week easily will become routine for Mario Golf enthusiasts.  Mario Golf: World Tour would not be some fun to play if the core mechanics of golf were not so well made and finely tuned.  If there is one game to pick up this month, it is Mario Golf: World Tour.  It has given me hours of enjoyment and will give plenty more thanks to online.  Guess I will be seeing you on the golf course.

TV Show of the Month
I wanted to change some things up this month.  Considering my most anticipated game of the month comes out at the very end of May and I have a whole article already drafted up and ready to be published this coming Friday, there really is no need to regurgitate what I will wrote here in Bit by Bit.  So the TV Show of the Month is back for another go especially since May marks the month when most TV shows air their season finales.  It seems like every week this past month there has been a major finale of some sort be it Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Survivor.  Each person has their show they watch every week.  As of late, that show has been Person of Interest for yours truly.

I knew of the show, but never watched it until I caught my dad watching the show this past Fall.  Person of Interest has gripped me in a way that I have not experienced since Lost came to an end four years ago.  Currently, I have watched all of seasons one and two and a part of season three and can say the show has gotten better with every season.  Person of Interest is a show about the vigilante partnership between a computer genius Harold Finch and a burned CIA agent John Reese.  Finch and Reese receive numbers from an America-wide security system simply known as The Machine.  The number they receive indicates either a perpetrator or victim for a possible crime.  During the course of the episode, Finch and Reese have to determine whether their person of interest needs to be saved or stopped.  Interesting concept for a show that was initially a procedural.  Over these three seasons, Person of Interest has become much more serialized with overarching stories and reoccurring threats such as the corrupt police association HR and the rogue security corporation Decima.  In particular, Person of Interest perfectly walks the fine line between procedural and serial that makes it like nothing else on television today.  The season three finale happened just about two weeks ago now and I cannot get over how amazing it was.  The finale completely changed the course of the entire series going forward that I will not do a disservice in spoiling it here.  The finale has to be seen to be believed, it is that good.  With this finale, Person of Interest has sealed its place as must-watch television.  I highly recommend checking Person of Interest out as it is the best show I have seen since Chuck ended in 2012.

Video of the Month
What do you get when you mix the superb music from the Ace Attorney series with popular musician Brentalfloss?  Well, you get the newest "With Lyrics" video-- Phoenix Wright with Lyrics.  Taking the song Cornered from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and adding lyrics that parody the tropes of this series such as the well-endowed women characters and extreme juxtaposition between charming wackiness and brutal violence.  It is a fun song that fans of the series will thoroughly enjoy.

Hump Day Music: Flossophy Impressions

When I updated Silver Bit six times a week back in 2012, Hump Day Music was one of Silver Bit's staples much like Bit by Bit.  Every Wednesday, I would share a piece of video game music or music loosely related to video games to help readers get through the middle of the week.  As things got busier, Hump Day Music sadly became a thing of the past.  I could never update Silver Bit enough to keep Hump Day Music as a recurring article.  After picking up Brentalfloss' newest CD Flossophy a few weeks back and listening it on repeat ever since, I am glad to bring back Hump Day Music for a special review of this CD.

For the uneducated, Brentalfloss is a musician who became popular amongst gamers for his "With Lyrics" videos which add lyrics to video game music from games like Mario, Mega Man and Castlevania.  Flossophy is Brentfloss' third studio album following What If This CD... Had Lyrics? and Bits of Me.  Flossophy contains twenty tracks including album versions of songs previously released on Youtube, iTunes and Bandcamp like The Team Fortress 2 Song and Cave Story with Lyrics and brand new, never before released songs such as Earthbound with Lyrics and Metroid: Fight for Love.  The album has a great variety of tracks that range from comedic songs to serious songs and fast blood-pumping songs to slow soothing songs.  The album's variety makes each track feel special and fill a different void.  There are no songs that sound the same or produce the same feeling within the listener.  First and foremost, Flossophy is made for those who love video games and video game music.  With that audience in mind, there are a lot of great jokes and parodies found throughout the album.  From giving light to the downfalls of modern console releases to making fun of how awkward the messages transferred through StreetPass are to portraying the Link from A Link to the Past as a self-centered obnoxious hero, there are plenty of jokes and parodies to keep any gamer smiling throughout.  Aside from the variety, jokes and parodies, one's enjoyment of Flossophy will come from the songs themselves.  The selection on this album are some of Brentalfloss' best.  While every track on Flossophy is at least worth a listen, there are seventeen this writer believes are well worth listening to more than once.  Among those seventeen, the tracks that stand out above the rest are Super Mario Land with Lyrics, Ken's Theme with Lyrics, Cave Story with Lyrics, Zidane to Vivi, Ballad of the Mages and Metroid: Fight for Love.  Like with most albums, there are a few tracks that add little to one's enjoyment of Flossophy.  In particular, those tracks are Game Launch Rock!, The Game Over Tinies and The Bioshock Song.  Each track tries to be drastically unique, but the attempts do not resonate like the other tracks on the album.

Although it may be for a niche audience, Flossophy is a great album and serves as a excellent homage to the video games that inspired it.  No matter if you pick the album up digitally for ten dollars or physically for thirteen plus shipping and handling, Flossophy is well worth the asking price.  If you are interested, you can pick the album up digitally on iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon and Google Play and physically from Level Up Studios website. Hump Day Music would not be complete if I did not leave a song for everybody to enjoy.  In particular, one of the songs featured on Flossophy--Ballad of the Mages.

SGC 3: Help Bring Back the Biggest Party in Gaming

If you have been following Silver Bit for a while, you already know that Screwattack is my favourite video game website.  I have been visiting Screwattack almost everyday for a good four years and I have highlighted many of their videos and other content on this blog many times.  Back in 2009 as part of a way to give back to fans, Screwattack put on the first ever Screwattack Gaming Convention (SGC for short).  More of a party than a convention, SGC was a huge success that spawned a second just as successful convention in 2010.  SGC played host to some incredible guests such as Brentalfloss, Keith Apicary, Angry Video Game Nerd, Nolan Bushnell, Uwe Boll and Jack Thompson, some incredible events such as the debut of Brentalfloss' song Corey, the Iron Man of Gaming tournament and the reveal of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 as the final game of the 2010 Iron Man of Gaming.  For 2011 and 2012, Screwattack could not afford to put on SGC.  During the absence of SGC for these two past years, everybody and their mother has been asking the crew at Screwattack for SGC to return.  Screwattack has heard it all and has thought of a way to fund SGC 3, Kickstarter.  The goal for this Kickstarter is 100 thousand dollars.  At the moment that I am writing this post, the SGC 3 Kickstarter has 401 (including yours truly) and has 40 001 dollars pledged towards it with 17 days left.  Like all Kickstarter projects, there are many tiers for the amount of money you pledge.  The lowest tier for the SGC 3 Kickstarter is 2 dollars or more with your being put on Screwattack's "supported by" page going all the way up to receiving tickets for the event and even receiving every piece of Screwattack merchandise ever made.  The fun does not end there.  Screwattack has built in stretch-goals to this Kickstarter, which could bring down the price of registation or fund other big events for SGC 3 and beyond, if the goal of 100 thousand dollars is met and/or surpassed.  Pledges start at a minimum of 1 single dollar.  So if you are planning on wanting to go to SGC 3 or want to support the great guys and gals at Screwattack, please support this Kickstarter.  Even though there is no possible way I could go to SGC 3 if it happens due to school and co-op, I have put five dollars in support of the website that I love and hopes of going to a future SGC.  If you are interested in helping, you can go to the SGC 3 Kickstarter at the link provided, www.kickstarter.com/projects/screwattack/let-throw-the-best-gaming-party-in-the-world-again.

Hump Day Music: Bits of Me Impressions

While it was announced way back in April, I finally got my copy of Brentalfloss' new CD Bits of Me in the mail last week.  Originally when I came on here and talked about Bits Of Me, I was on the fence about buying this album.  After some debating, I gave in and put down my 15 dollars to pre-order Bits of Me and show my support for Brentalfloss and his work.  Even though it took about two months after it's initial release to finally reach me, my patience was well worth it.  I received an autographed physical copy of Bits of Me, a free digital copy, three little Brentalfloss pins and one Brentalfloss sticker all for 15 dollars.  I made such a good choice pre-ordering this CD.

I first listened to Bits of Me when I received the free digital copy over a month, I was not impressed.  I do not know exactly why.  I might have just been in a bad mood when I listened to it.  When I popped the CD into my Mac to listen to it last week, I had a completely different reaction to the CD.  I loved it. There is only one song on the entire 18 track CD that I did not entirely enjoy.  The rest of the CD is absolutely incredible.  I have listened to it many times in the one week I have owned the physical CD.  While I do love every track on this CD other than Meet Me in the Dungeon, Dear, my personal favourites are Contra with Lyrics, Castlevania II with Lyrics, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!! with Lyrics and Zelda II with Lyrics.  All-in-all, any video game fan will find something to love about Bits of Me.  If you are interested in picking up Bits of Me, you can buy the physical CD from Level Up Studios for 13 dollars or download it from iTunes, Amazon MP3 and Bandcamp for about 9 to 10 dollars.  Bits of Me is well worth any price you pay.  And for your viewing pleasure is one of the songs featured on Bits of Me, Castlevania II with Lyrics.

Hump Day Music: Bits of Me

Well it is a good thing I delayed Hump Day Music to today.  This morning Brentalfloss, a musician famous for adding lyrics to beloved video game music, announced his second album is available for pre-order.  This album is called Bits of Me and contains 18 tracks of video game music parodies, 14 classic tracks with new instruments and vocals and 4 brand new tracks just available on the album.  If you are interested, you can pre-order Bits of Me at levelupstudios.com/bitsofme for 13 dollars plus shipping and handling.  Also as an added bonus for those who pre-order, Brentalfloss will autograph each pre-ordered copy.  Personally as a fan of Brentalfloss' work I would love to pre-order Bits of Me, but I spent a lot of money the past month and I am going to limit my spending for the time being and start saving a lot of money for school, which I starts this fall.  If you have some cash to spare and enjoy Brentalfloss' music, go and pick Bits of Me up.  If you are still on the fence, you can find the track list at the website listed above and I have the announcement trailer below for everybody to enjoy.