With Episode 043 of Marooners’ Talk, “Dance Rock Blitz,” we had a chance to sit and chat with Nick Chester and Annette Gonzalez from Harmonix (Publicist and Dance Central Community Manager, respectively) about Dance Central 3 and Rock Band Blitz. Hear about Dance Central 3′s new story mode, Rock Band Blitz’s Score Wars and Rock Band World, and various other topics, including the one song each of the four of us would want on Dance Central more than any other. Read the full story

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Strange as it may sound, my last real Rock Band experience was Rock Band 2 on my PlayStation 2 back in 2008. I enjoyed it immensely (I even lost my voice once doing Filter’s Hey Man, Nice Shot; I was committed to the song), but because of my wife’s susceptibility to Simulation Sickness (a kind of motion sickness brought on by certain video games), we ended up selling it due to disuse, and never got on the Rock Band 3 bandwagon when it was initially released in October of 2010. Yes, I’m doing a review for a game that came out 21 months ago. “But Chris, dude, come on! The review cycle for this game has been done for a year and a half, at LEAST!” Well, we just got a copy of it for my wife’s 30th birthday party, so I believe the most appropriate phrase here is… Read the full story

Drummers absolutely need one skill to be successful: rhythm. It’s a funny thing, rhythm; you either have it, or you don’t. If you have it, you know you have it. If you don’t have it, you either know you don’t have it, or you know you have it and the people who tell you otherwise are just JEALOUS. I know I have it. It’s what makes me a great drummer, an absolutely phenomenal dancer, a dynamite foot-tapper, and one of the most incredible human beatboxes ever to roam this earth. At least one of those things is true, and as a dynamite foot-tapper, I need something great to tap my foot to. That’s where the Mad Catz Wireless PRO-Drum and PRO-Cymbals kit comes in. Read the full story

I’ve always had an affinity for the musical arts. I picked up violin in the fourth grade after spending Kindergarten through third grade becoming a guitar virtuoso. To be fair, the guitar was made of plastic and had little buttons along the fret that played totally radical riffs, but I was a bloody rock god and I don’t care what anyone else says about it. Back then, in the late 80s and early 90s, I thought that I was experiencing the absolute best that the world would ever offer in the field of pretend rocking out. Nearly fifteen years later, Harmonix blew people away with Guitar Hero, and followed that up with giving people the ability to play as a full band with Rock Band. The quality of a game like Rock Band 3, Harmonix’s most recent outing, is entirely limited by the quality of the peripheral hardware used to play it. This is where Mad Catz comes in. Read the full story

After a busy weekend of rocking out, followed by some hardcore napping, we finally got together to record this week’s podcast episode. Episode 034 of Marooners’ Talk, “Do A Barrel Roll!”, covers various topics. We get off to a slow start, but to be fair it was Monday evening, and not every opening can be fireworks and pinatas, so LAY OFF. There are a few moments of positive discussion this week; specifically, our conversations about limited editions being released this year and our shared admiration of Harmonix titles. The rest of the episode, though, sees us revert to our natural negative natures when discussing Activision (Radical Entertainment), The Amazing Spider-Man, Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut, FOX Marvel movies (Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men), and the flaws with X-Men: First Class and its absolutely awful Blu-Ray special features. Read the full story

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Yesterday, we saw a first look at the upcoming game from Harmonix, Rock Band Blitz. Due this summer on XBLA and PSN, Rock Band Blitz is an instrument-free rhythm game, similar to, oh I don’t know, Rock Band Unplugged on PSP, or Frequency and Amplitude on PlayStation 2 (both of which were also Harmonix titles). Full of power-ups, challenges, recommendations, and more, Rock Band Blitz brings one massive benefit to it: all of the 3,500+ songs in the Rock Band library can be played in Rock Band Blitz, and the 20+ songs that are packaged with Rock Band Blitz  (including such confirmed titles as Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, Metal Health (Bang Your Head) by Quiet Riot, Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield, and Always by Blink 182) will be playable in Rock Band 3. So even if you don’t care for Rock Band Blitz, you’re still getting 20+ songs for Rock Band 3 at the undisclosed price of a downloadable game. Read the full story

As a disclaimer, we won’t have reviews for the products up until next week at the earliest, so don’t read these as recommendations, necessarily. Think of them more as a heads-up for products you may not have been aware of. To date, I haven’t had any problems with Mad Catz products, so they have managed to build a reputation for reliability so far, but there’s always a first time, so just be aware that these products exist, and that reviews will be forthcoming. That being said, with the holiday season upon us, it’s time to splurge and buy gifts not only for your friends and family, but for yourself! Here are a few of the items that Mad Catz has prepared for this holiday season…

Mad Catz Rock Band 3 Bundle

Are you a latecomer to Rock Band 3? Have you been interested, but never taken the plunge? With more and more content being released for the Rock Band 3 platform, there’s a veritable plethora of music to play with your friends locally or online. Mad Catz is providing a few guitar and bass bundles for you this season. Running from $69.99 for a standard guitar/bass controller bundle to $149.99 for a pro instrument bundle, the Rock Band 3 package also includes codes for five Red Hot Chili Peppers song downloads (Californication, Otherside, By The Way, Under the Bridge, and The Adventures of Raindance Maggie). An instrument (standard or pro), a popular and versatile game, and five free songs is a great way to start getting into musical multiplayer.

Mad Catz Wireless Force Feedback Racing Wheel

Do you feel the need? The need for speed? Are you a fan of driving/racing games, but not a fan of controlling a vehicle with a standard controller? Do you want something that feels more natural, and gives you a more realistic driving/racing control experience? A racing wheel is the way to go, then. But which racing wheel? There are so many, and some of them are absolute garbage. Mad Catz is offering up their Wireless Force Feedback Racing Wheel this year. At $249.99, the price tag is definitely on the steep side when compared to other racing wheels, like Microsoft’s. The Mad Catz WFFRW (it’s easier than continually saying Wireless Force Feedback Racing Wheel) has a very sturdy frame, featuring all metal construction. Unlike Microsoft’s wheel, this wheel includes a mount for table top placement. Additionally, a removable gear shift is included to further simulate a realistic driving experience.

Mad Catz First Person Shooter Gamepad

Do you have trouble with shooters? Alternatively, are you a fan of shooters looking for an extra edge in competitive online play? Mad Catz has a wired controller specifically designed for shooters. The FPS Pro GamePad includes “Combat Buttons” on the back side of the controller. The controller’s face buttons can be remapped to these “Combat Buttons” on the back of the gamepad, meaning that your trigger finger can rest more easily on your rat-a-tat-tat.

Mad Catz MLG Arcade Fightstick

One of the key features at MLG tournaments is the fighting game. Fighters can be played with controllers, but there’s always a distinct advantage given to those who play with and master fightsticks. True to the fighting game’s arcade roots, a fightstick provides you with a comfortable array of attack buttons and a sensitive joystick with a much better range and accuracy than a standard controller. A fightstick is the way to play a fighting game, and a MLG Fightstick is a well recognized fightstick. With genuine Sanwa Denshi arcade components, the MLG Fightstick was specifically designed for pro gamers, and is a customized version of the award winning Arcade Fighstick. At $159.99, it’s a pricey fightstick, but that price gives you accuracy and advantage.

It’s officially 2011, so it’s time to recap and present to you all our choices for the best and worst video games that came out in 2010. We’ve all been working on this for months, changing some of our choices as new games came out, but what you see below is what we’ve all finally settled on.

Read the full story

In case you missed Spike TV’s 2010 Video Game Awards, we’ve got you covered! Check out everything that happened!

Read the full story

Today, Harmonix made a bunch of Queen songs available through download. This includes 5 totally new Queen songs for Rock Band 3, along with upgrades for Queen songs that have been featured previously in the series.

Read the full story