I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE. I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE.

Update: *Point point*

Oh I get it lol.

Some associated news have been found on the net too. GameDaily has a cool interview with Orbison’s widow about the games and music. She has a very positive attitude towards the merging. Digital Game Developer has some really interesting information on the technical process of taking master tracks and making the song playable. The Orbison Estate actually took the opportunity to remix the song just for Rock Band, making the guitar sound more modern.

The Beatles have licensed songs to MTV Networks’ Rock Band videogame series, according to several people familiar with the matter, a coup for the Viacom Inc. unit in its battle with rival Activision Inc. for supremacy in the world of rock and roll video games.

Update: Today the Beatles and MTV Games officially announced plans to make a Beatles music game. Woohoo! There’s articles all over the net, but check out this one, the press release at Beatles.com. It’s eerie reading quotes from representatives of all four Beatles about how cool a videogame would be. Kind of a weird Bizarro world situation. For example:

“It’s cool. I love it and hope it will keep inspiring and encouraging the young generation for many decades,” said Yoko Ono Lennon.

That quote would be inconceivable one week ago.

Update 5:47AM
Buying Rock Band 2 at midnight was no problem. Picked it up at the original Super Walmart in town. Got lost on the way back due to heavy rain and crummy road lines. Been playing on and off since around 12:30AM (!). First impressions: there are a lot more songs that are really fun to sing, like Hungry Like the Wolf, That’s What You Get, Eye of the Tiger, and Kids in America. My throat started complaining at around 3:00AM so I switched to guitar but by then I was also drowsy so I kind of half-heartedly played. Old interface problems fixed, but new ones were made. More details when I’m less likely to pass out at the keyboard.

Omar Dogan, artist at Udon comics, was doing commission sketches. I think his work is fantastic so I went to his booth. Luckily, he wasn’t so busy so I could get my request in: Karin from Street Fighter Alpha 3. Mr. Dogan was very nice and he told me to pick it up around closing time. As I walked away it occured to me that I had no way of safely transporting a 11″ x 17″ art piece. But, I saw many convention-goers all weekend with poster tubes from the Fox booth so off I went. When I got there they were out of posters with a sign promising more later. I walked around some more and returned. Now there was a giant throng of people demanding poster tubes. I walked around the booth but couldn’t find where the line ended. I saw one likely spot, a corner with a staff member and what looked like the end. I asked the man if it was the end, and he said no. It turns out, the line continued directly behind me, from where I had come from. So… that meant I was in the line right? No, said both the guard and the woman behind me (whom is a jerk btw). At this point I was on the verge of a freakout so I left ending my quest for a poster tube.

I calmed myself down by first watching Spore being played at their booth, played some Rock Band in the game room. Walking through the exhibit hall made me have an attack again so I sat in a secluded area playing Phase on my iPod. Once I was refreshed I went back to see Omar Dogan. Surprisingly my piece was done (it had been around three hours). It’s fantastic: inked and shaded which is beyond what he needed to do for a con sketch. I had him keep the rough lines. I wrapped the drawing in some thick posters, forming a protective tube I had to hold closed. Having gotten that, there was nothing I needed to do so I left Comic-Con as fast as possible.

{Things I got at Comic-Con. Click to see annotated version at Flickr.}

I’m not sure if I want to do it again. At least I’ll skip a year like before. Maybe two years. I did have lots of fun and got many unique souvenirs, and talked to some great people, but the aggravating times were insanity-inducing, literally. I’m pretty sure it’s all worth it, though. Maybe. Let me look at that drawing again…

{The man I saw kinda looked like this. (From scottmccloud.com)}

My face went =O. Scott McCloud is pretty famous for his books about comics theory: Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics. He also invented the 24-hour comic. It’s kind of a big deal to see him, much less walking down the street like anyone else. Well, I’ll know what he looks like in real life for next time.

While the morning had its thrills, I was very excited about the afternoon: Thursday had a Smash Bros. tournament and Friday it was time for Rock Band to take the stage (though there wasn’t actually a stage). The tournament was set up as score duels between two bands at a time. Each duo of bands picked a song to play and then they played the other group’s pick. The score is added and highest wins. Pretty slick way of doing it I think.

{Dueling bands at the Rock Band tournament.}

The clustery Smash Bros. tournament the day before had me worried, but the Rock Band one was well organized. I joined a trio looking for a bass player or vocalist but they booted me at the last minute. I was pissed I didn’t have a band because I really wanted to sing. Luckily one of the bands couldn’t find their fourth when they were called up and I hopped in to offer my services. It was me, pushing 30, with a bunch of 8th and 9th graders. By the time we worked out the band issues the competing band had already picked their song: Buddy Holly. I have a mental list of songs I’m uncommonly good at and I scanned the playlist for one: Celebrity Skin was my choice. No one likes Celebrity Skin, except for Anna and I. We played our hearts out but they beat us completely. Special mention goes out to my competing vocalist, a stocky guy in an orange shirt. He really worked the crowd from his giant yells for overdrive to his clapping and waving to other songs. His band won the tournament, with the prize being a copy of Rock Band 2.

Considering that two months ago I didn’t know I had the capacity to even learn singing, doing vocals in front of a crowd at Comic-Con was huge to me. And it was only 2PM.