Zapcon 2015 - Day Two Pinball Wizard

For the second day of Zapcon I suggested to my significant other - Vanessa that she should come along. While hesitant due to her relative lack of gaming skills and perceived “dude’s day out” she relented and eagerly tagged along. Day two will be a bit of a couples outing conquering some games together and competing to see who will wear the pants in the relationship. Neither of us are very fond of pants so there may be some attempts at throwing matches to avoid wearing them.

Zapcon 2015 - Day One the Wizard

When arcades first started, pinball machines dominated. Then came Pong and its ilk that drove out most pinball from the arcades. Home consoles started matching and eventually exceeding the power of arcade video games, causing most arcades to shutter. I grew up in a time when there was a resurgence of arcades thanks to Street Fighter II and the fighting game explosion it created. However I didn’t frequent the arcades as much as I’d like on the basis that I lacked income and a vehicle on account of my very young age.

Pinball was still not generating the revenue that video game arcades were doing but it hadn’t died completely. That is why I’m glad that conventions like Zapcon exist. Here is a new annual event that takes machines, both pinball and video game, from collectors and vendors and allows people to experience some of the classics and even some of the obscure titles from the dimly lit arena of arcades past.

Behemoth Plays Behemoth

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and Orion from Behemoth play the new game Evolve, alternating between using the new creature Behemoth. I haven't gotten a chance to play the game but I did get to see it way in its predevelopment days back when THQ was set to publish it. Thankfully 2K picked up the title and Turtle Rock Studios got to finish this game. It looks pretty awesome even though I'm not a huge multiplayer gamer; the concept is really neat and is something I'd like to pick up on the PC.

Why Cannibal Corpse is the Perfect Soundtrack to Mortal Kombat

We all saw the recent commercial for Mortal Kombat X, the one directed by System of a Down’s bassist, Shavo Odadjian with “Chop Suey” as the soundtrack. There was pretty much a near universal agreement that it was a poor song choice. Most would say that the ubiquitous techno classic “Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)” by the Immortals should’ve been featured. Especially considering that that song has been used in the original Mortal Kombat commercial and is basically played in anyone’s head the moment that the words “Mortal” and “Kombat” are uttered, it should have been a severed no-brainer. A fan took it upon himself and had the anthem spliced into the new commercial. I think that person could’ve done better. Obviously this blog is about metal music and video games, so of course I’ll be picking a metal band. Now what we need a band that is extremely violent, uncompromising, long running, and as influential as the arcade classic. And that band would have to be the almighty Cannibal Corpse. Let me explain why they are such a bloody good match for each other.

Concert Review - Dark Roots of Thrash II

Going to a metal show in downtown Scottsdale is a bit unusual and I think that the usual Botox patrons know it. From the mass of pastel colors, booty shorts, and high heels came a small swarm of black shirt, battle vest wearing metalheads. When there is a mass of metalheads converging in an area you know that there must be a concert going on that night. That night was the Dark Roots of Thrash II tour with thrash legends Testament and Exodus, plus newcomers Shattered Sun. The new and modern venue of Livewire is about to get thrashed!