Steam for Mac is here! FREE Portal as well!

Hey Mac gamers! Yes, all six of you! Steam is here! And if you act before May 24th, you can even get a copy of Valve's rad game, Portal, for free! Not a Mac gamer? And for some sick reason you still don't have Portal? Guess what? Portal is FREE for PC gamers as well!

Steam for Mac and FREE Portal Download

I already have Portal on my PS3 (a system Valve should've supported first, before Macs, in my opinion), but who can argue with a free game? And a really good one at that. But, hey, maybe having Steam for Mac, and over 63 games available to play at launch, will finally lure Mac users to the gaming realm and legitimize Macs as a gaming platform. Probably not, but at least someone's trying.

Fool's Day

Holy shit! That's really all I can say. After seven years, Blur have finally released a new single! While there's (sadly) no album behind the release of the new track, "Fool's Day," was released earlier today in a limited edition 7" vinyl single, limited to 1,000 pressings and only available in the UK in honor of Record Store Day.

But, because the powers that be and the band knew that such a limited pressing would lead to inferior pirated versions of the track, they've gone and released it for free on their website! All you have to do is give your name and e-mail and you can download an .mp3 or uncompressed .wav of the track.

I should warn you though, as of writing this, there seams to be something wrong with the .mp3 version. It cuts off at the 2:25 mark instead of going the full 3:27. So, your best bet for now is download the uncompressed .wav and then just convert it until there's a better solution.

As for how it sounds? Despite Damon Albarn's involvement in other bands since the 2003 release of Blur's Think Tank, "Fool's Day" still manages to sound undeniably like Blur, and not say, Gorillaz or The Good, The Bad, and The Queen. And what's even more great is that this is 4-piece Blur, and it's so so awesome to hear new music with Graham, Alex and Dave each adding their own signature part to Damon's unmistakable voice; the riff Graham plays to close the song out is worth it, even if the track is free.

I really can't express how awesome it is to hear new Blur. Seven years is a long time, and considering till just over a year ago the band wasn't even together, the fact that this song exists is almost unbelievable. Would I love to hear an entire new Blur album? Definitely! But if all we're left with is "Fool's Day," I'm still insanely satisfied.

Update for those not keen on downloading completely legal and free music, Parlophone has an embedable version:

A Stitch In Time

Yup! It's time for another Smashing Pumkpins song! Here's the latest from Teargarden by Kaleidyscope:

Download "A Stitch In Time" Here

As usual, if you're not privy to downloading, you can stream the track from SmashingPumkins.com. The 3:33 length track is the shortest of the three tracks released so far, and is growing on me the least so far as well. The best way I could describe it is that it doesn't sound like Smashing Pumpkins at all... it honestly sounds more like The Cure with Billy Corgan on vocals. If that interests you, by all means download it and listen the hell out of it, it's FREE after all. I know I'll keep the track just to have a complete album, who knows, it may sound more fitting when the next track is inevitably released.

I'm aware that I said I wouldn't make a post after each track on this 44 track album is released. But if they're going to continue releasing almost two months apart then I might as well, not like there's much other content going on around here...

VFH Originals: Doctor Who wallpaper

It's been almost two years since the last time we had a VFH Original (June 2008, to be exact). In fact, I'd say it's probably to the point where you may have no idea what I'm talking about... So, in short, VFH Originals, is a once in a blue moon feature where I happen to make something, and then provide it as a download to you.

So, here it is, Doctor Who wallpaper. There's only 1440x900 size for now, which fits any Macbook Pro or moderately sized widescreen monitor. But if someone actually comments here, stating they want it in ####x#### size, then, I'll see what I can do for you. Enjoy!

Original press photo via io9. Logo was custom-made by me, utilizing hi-res rendered images of the new series' logo.

Widow Wake My Mind

Finally! After over a month, the Smashing Pumpkins have finally released the second track off of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, "Widow Wake My Mind," which follows the phenomenal opening track "A Song For A Son".

This second track clocks in at four minutes and twenty-seven seconds, a minute and a half shy of "A Song For A Son"; not that I care about its length, it is free, but I figured I let weary downloaders know.

Curiously enough, "Widow Make My Mind" wasn't revealed on the band's official site like all the Teargarden tracks were announced to be. Instead the track was released via the band's newly re-designed MySpace page. But you can just use the direct download link below:

The track itself is a mixed bag, in my opinion. The opening, isn't that great, but the track has some pick up in the chorus. Overall, it's nothing exciting when compared to the first track, but hey, it's free. I'm just hoping we don't have to wait another month for the next track, because at this rate it's going to take forever to completely release this 44 track album.

The High Road

Apparently I forgot to write about this 'band' first forming, sorry about that. But hopefully the prospect of a free download will remedy that. The Shins' frontman, James Mercer, and famed producer/musician Danger Mouse (called by his real name, Brian Burton, for this project) recently formed a band known as Broken Bells, and their first track, "The High Road," is now available for free by signing up for their newsletter. But act quick, because it will only be available for one day, then you'll have to buy it on iTunes or where ever you like to buy music.

Visit BrokenBells.com to sign up for the newsletter to get your free download, or if you're not one for giving out your e-mail, you can stream the track on the site, or visit their MySpace and hear it.

It's not a new Shins album, but it's good to hear Mercer singing again. And while a lot of people like to shun Danger Mouse, I, for the most part, like the albums he's worked on. So most likely I'll pick this album when it releases this March. Until then I'll have to just enjoy "The High Road."

A Song For A Son

Well, it may be a week late, but Smashing Pumpkins have released the first track from Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which will eventually become a 44 track album sometime next year. But until then, you can get each track, completely free as they're released.

Having not liked the band's return sound from 2007's Zeitgeist, I must say, "A Song For A Son" sounds better than I expected it to. And considering Billy Corgan is the only original band member now, I suppose that says ... something. I can't say what, because I'm not sure, but if this free six minute track is anything to go by, I'm at least looking forward to the other 43 songs on this album.

Note, the original announcement said the first track would release around Halloween time, and it's clearly not Halloween now, so I'm curious how long it will be before the next track arrives. But in terms of reviews, I probably won't write a proper album review until all 44 tracks are released.

You can stream and download "A Song For A Son" at SmashingPumpkins.com or you can cut to the chase and just go to the direct download link. The .mp3 file, when imported into iTunes, will already have the album name, year, track number, and album artwork.

TGS 09: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Impressions

No, there's no way I'm at the Tokyo Game Show right now. But I can imagine, thanks to IGN posting the download for the show's Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker demo! I'm only a bit in so far, having already completed the tutorial section of the game and watching a cut-scene, but right now I'm stuck, because the language barrier is tremendous.

What can I say right now though? The graphics, are awesome, I've seen worse released on PS2 and Wii if that means anything. Control-wise, Kojima somehow managed to map Metal Gear Solid 4's DualShock 3 control scheme onto the PSP, ditching Portable Ops' controls entirely; it's not full DualShock controls of course, what with the lack of 2nd analog and L2/R2, but it's close enough damnit!

But yeah, the entire demo is in Japanese, from menus to voice acting, so I haven't the slighest clue as to the story or what on Earth I'm supposed to do now. The tutorial, which was reasonably understandable only helped control wise, but in terms of objective I'm lost.

On another note, some cut-scenes are full in-game CGI, while the big stuff is comic style in the vein of what Ashley Wood did for Portable Ops. Oddly enough, the style of these scenes look's like Wood's at first, but then there's a bit of Yoji Shinkawa's style in there, and quite frankly I don't know who's art it really is... it'd be nice to get an answer on that.

When I figure out what to do, I'll update you!

Billy Corgan announces new, free Smashing Pumpkins album

Despite being the only original member left, Billy Corgan is still planning on releasing a new Smashing Pumpkins album... but not in the traditional sense. Having previously discussed taking a different approach to releasing albums, it seems Corgan really meant different.

The new album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, will consist of 44(!) tracks, and will be absolutely free. Which I guess is a good thing for those who felt guilty after actually buying the band's 2007 return album, Zeitgeist. How does this work? Let Billy explain himself:

"My desire is to release a song at a time beginning around Halloween of this year, with each new release coming shortly after until all 44 are out. Each song will be made available absolutely for free, to anyone anywhere. There will be no strings attached. Free will mean free, which means you won't have to sign up for anything, give an email address, or jump through a hoop. You will be able to go and take the song or songs as you wish, as many times as you wish. "

Sounds good, though whether the music itself sounds good is to be told yet. For those who want to have a physical release o the album, there will be four 11-track EPs available to buy, of which you can read more about in the full release at SmashingPumpkins.com

These Are My Twisted Words

Good news Radiohead fans, new music! And it's free! After the recent release of "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)", a song dedicated to Harry Patch, the last of Britain's World War 1 survivors who past away recently, it seems that wasn't all Radiohead had been working on.

Starting today, from Radiohead's own website, you can download "These Are My Twisted Words" for no charge. Downloading the file from Radiohead's website (I didn't try their torrent link) will get you the track in MP3 format, album artwork (thankfully for us iTunes completists), a credits text file, and a PDF with some related artwork for the track.

Overall, the song sounds really good, but for me it took a few listens before I really got into it. It's a real mix of their current sound with that of Kid A / Amnesiac. But overall I do like it, so that's always good. This release does come after the band stating that they wouldn't like to release more full albums, instead opting to release EPs, so I'm curious as to how more stuff will be released, and as to how this track will fit into all of that.

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together review

Scott Pilgrim returns for his fourth book, but unlike the previous three books, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together doesn't continue right after the events of the previous book, there's a month or so gap. However there's a short story called Free Scott Pilgrim which takes place between volumes three and four; details below. This forth volume, published by Oni Press, was originally released in 2007 (see, I'm catching up).

Note: For Scott Pilgrim completists, Free Scott Pilgrim can be downloaded from OniPress.com [this is a direct link to a .cbr file] or you can browse it page by page via the ScottPilgrim.com Previews section. It's not required reading, just something fun if you crave more of the series. Oh, and yes it's free, legally.

Story
As said above, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together doesn't continue right after The Infinite Sadness, instead giving the characters a chance to grow a little off page. None the less, the focus of this book is back on Scott Pilgrim himself, which was something the previous book didn't do and I had a few words regarding that. Scott's old friend and former bandmate, Lisa (introduced in the beginning of volume 2, in the opening with 16 year old Scott), is back in town and is trying to catch up with Scott. However, Ramona seems to get the feeling that there's more between them than just being friends and it causes that typical drama.

Overall, the story is a good one, and focus being on Scott again made this book feel a lot more enjoyable than last time, and there's much more character development this time around than ther has been in the three previous books. Not to mention, Gets It Together is the longest book in the series so far, so that makes it more to enjoy.

Writing
While this is volume contains the most drama from the series so far, I have to say it's all been the one that's made me laugh the most, most due to Bryan Lee O'Malley's amusing artwork paired with hilariously subtle one-liners. There's just something about Scott's awkwardness that make him a very appealing character, and one that becomes even more believable as the series goes on.

As usual, there's a lot more gaming references this time around, but no so much as specific references, but more so in terms of gaming in general. Many times through out the book meters will appear over Scott, whether it be hunger, money, and yes, even pee. Not to mention, Scott gains a lot of EXP this time around, and even levels up! (I hope that's not a spoiler...)

Artwork
I was actually pleasantly surprised when I opened up this volume, as it includes the first major change to the series since it's started. I'm talking about color, something notably absent from the manga-inspired series (other than the cover art of course). Sure, the color section only lasts for the first chapter of the book, but it was a welcome addition and I found it interesting to see how O'Malley's traditionally black and white characters translated onto full color pages.

As for the rest of the book, it's back to the Scott Pilgrim you've been used to. I noticed a lot more solid black throughout the book, but that's more so because there's a focus on Scott's dreams and entering subspace; otherwise there's nothing majorly different from what you've been used to. As with the last volume though, there's once again guest art at the end of the book, but nothing I found to be overly appealing. The back cover however features a pixel art scene of the cast outside of Sneaky Dee's and I thought that was pretty cool.

Overall
Despite bringing drama into the series, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together is definitely my favorite book of the series so far. After the mild disappointment that was The Infinite Sadness, I was very pleased to not only have the story focus on my favorite characters, but also have them develop a lot for the first time since the first book. And while O'Malley's great artwork hasn't changed much this time around, the inclusion of a color chapter was nice to see, and is something I'd like included in the next installments.

Overall Score: 9.4/10

For more on Scott Pilgrim visit: scottpilgrim.com
For more on Bryan Lee O'Malley visit: radiomaru.com

A Looking in View

Earlier this month I reported about Alice In Chains' new album, Black Gives Way To Blue. Well, as of today you can now hear the first track from the album, "A Looking in View," and even download it for free by heading to AliceInChains.com and filling out the form that comes up when you first visit the site. For those of you who don't feel like signing up for newsletters, you can hear the track via the website itself by skipping the form.

After listening to the seven minute track a few times, I can say that I'm pretty excited to hear more. At first it sounds much heavier than the band's last work from over thirteen years ago, when their self-titled album released. And, I'm pretty everyone wanted to hear how new material sounds with William DuVall on vocals instead of the late Layne Staley. Thankfully, more so in part to Jerry Cantrell's backing vocals, "A Looking in View" sounds like the Alice In Chains I remember, and that can only be a good thing.

Update: Turns out the new track is also available on the band's MySpace

8bit l8bit

Last night while wandering around on some forums I happened upon a very cool little radio station. The station is called 8bit l8bit, and they only play chiptunes.

The music was all very good, and they do take requests. How you get those requests in is beyond me, since they don't seem to have a website or anything. I guess it comes down to if you're lucky enough to find them on a forum.

Anyways, the music was consistently good through the night, so not being able to make requests isn't that big of a deal. So, next time they're on the air you should give them a listen. Oh wait, there is a catch. They only broadcast Saturday nights, starting at midnight. Yeah, I know. Lame. Just think of it as a chiptune K.K. Slider.

8bit l8bit

Dear Esther...

I realize I was a bit slow with this one. There is a small chance you've already heard of Dear Esther. But I've just now stumbled upon it myself. Regardless, for such an amazing and unique experience, one more recommendation can never hurt.

The game is littered with beautiful music.

Dear Esther is a Half-Life 2 mod. It's a free game, and I believe only took me about 2 hours or so to beat. The similarities to Half-Life 2 are limited to the engine and the first person view perspective though. From there on out, Dear Esther is if anything, more comparable to Braid, for they share unique storytelling methods and slightly disturbing themes.

Dear Esther is a story driven first-person adventure game. At least that's how I would describe it. It's possibly one of the slowest paced games I've played in the recent years, yet it's no doubt one of the most interesting. It's full of beautifully disturbing music, haunting scenery, and chilling atmosphere, all brought together with a story that is worth listening to. I would give you a loose outline of the plot, but I believe that listening, exploring, and interpreting the story based on what you find is what the game is all about.

So if you're in the mood for something different. Slow, sad, meaningful, and very atmospheric then go give "Dear Esther" a download (It's free, c'mon!). You do need Steam, and since it is a mod of Half-Life 2, I believe you need some form of that as well. I was able to play it with only HL2 Deathmatch installed.

Dear Esther, should not be viewed as a traditional game. It should be viewed as an example of what games can do. The feelings they can bring, the stories they can tell, and the experience only they can give you.

Download "Dear Esther"

Free song from Weep

As you may or may not remember, back in October, I reviewed Never Ever, the first album from Doc Hammer's band, Weep. Well, if you were looking for new material from the band, then today's your lucky day ... sort of. The band has released a cover of Rihanna's song, "Shut Up and Drive." Sure, the choice of song may be strange, but it's FREE, and the Weep version is actually quite a catchy tune.

Right click, Save Link As... to download the track!

What do you think? I actually like it, despite the odd choice of song to cover.

You can hear more from Weep at their MySpace

Summoning of Spirits

OverClockedReMix has done it again with another fantastic remix album release. Summoning of Spirits: An Arrangement of Music from Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia.

This latest endeavor is the definitely new, seeing as the games featured in the album are considered cult phenomena, rather than tried and true classic games as seen in their previous album releases. Tales of Symphonia stands out more so, with the game's popularity making appearances in its own manga, anime OVA, drama CDs, and more. The game is also known for being one in few as a J-RPG released on the Nintendo Gamecube in North America which is considered the primary reason in which Symphonia has achieved its title of being a "cult classic". Tales of Phantasia however is a classic Tales game, that has seen releases on the SNES, GBA, and PSP alike. Chronologically the two games are connected yet there was no interaction with the other characters aside from cameos.

The album itself is divided into four downloadable discs and includes three bonus tracks of remixed material from Tales of Symphonia's sequel Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. Disc one and two cover music from Tales of Phantasia while three and four is music from Tales of Symphonia. OCReMix is known for quality remix material and Summoning of Spirits show that they still got it, I myself was especially impressed that the character theme song for Tales of Symphonia's Sheena Fujibayashi was included in the album, a very welcome suprise. What most gamers familiar with the Tales series will probably skim through the album looking first and foremost for the songs "Fighting of the Spirit" and "Fatalize" which have only had a few quality remixes before, (one by the infamous S.S.H) and have no fear the remixes of those song are present and very well done. Fans will certainly be pleased by this and waste no time filling their iPods with the songs. There's not much to gripe about either, I wasn't fond of a few of the songs but that's just being picky, the good outweighs the bad in almost every way. The album is sure to impress fans, and even those unfamiliar with the games may find themselves liking the music. Well presented and packaged this album was a must have for me, and probably a lot of JRPG nuts, leaving a nice lasting impression on my music library.

Summoning of Spirits: An Arrangement of Music from Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia. Is available for download at http://tales.ocremix.org/ also be sure to visit http://www.ocremix.org/ for more remixes and more.

New FEIST build

I got a newsletter e-mail from the two creators of FEIST, a Mac exclusive indie platformer. You may remember us covering it? Well, none the less, they released a new version since the Beta and I have to say, it's coming along quite well. So if you're running OS X and have yet to play FEIST, or if you already have the Beta and want more, just click this link:

FEIST - Near-final Build

FEIST

FEIST is a Mac exclusive indie platformer, created by by Florian Faller and Adrian Stutz. What really turned me on to the project, other than the fact that I have a Macbook Pro, was the style of this title. It's visual style looks like a cross between Patapon and LostWinds, while still retaining it's own unique design.


After playing around with the title for a bit I will say that I'm impressed. But just because I am impressed doesn't mean it's without its flaws. My one concern is that there is no objective, so your dropped right into the world with no real idea of what you should be doing. Also, the visual style, even at 1440 x 900 retains a blurred look to it, and that may bother some people. It makes sense that this in the Beta stage, because there are some things that can be fixed. One notable instance was when I was stuck between a wall and an enemy, the enemy hit me and I managed to go through the wall, and into a never-ending black abyss. But for a indie project, FEIST really does show potential. So if you're a Mac owner, do yourself a favor and try this out. And let's be honest, what other gaming could you be doing on a Mac?

You can download the FEIST Beta at IndieGames.com; Mac OSX is required.

FEIST - Official Website

Original Red Alert For Free!

This weekend you can download the original Red Alert for free at EA's website.

"Today, August 31st, 2008 marks the 13th anniversary of the storied Command & Conquer franchise, which has sold over 25 million copies to date. And to celebrate this milestone and this October's highly anticipated return to the world of Red Alert with Red Alert 3, we are giving away one of the original games that started it all, Command & Conquer Red Alert, for FREE."

So go head on over there to www.redalert3.com and give it a download.

Official Sackboy papercraft

It's nt often you come accross official papercrafts, but when you do it's pretty cool. This one is direct from Media Molecule, and is a blank model for a Sackboy or Sackgirl from LittleBIGPlanet! Print it and create it as much as you want, they'll be accepting photos of your creations. Follow the image below

Be just as creative as the game itself!