Samba de Amigo

The videogame industry as a whole as always loved the idea of the “peripheral”.  The Power Pad, the Zapper, R.O.B.  Dance pads, guitars, this monstrosity.  All of this, of course, flies in the face of reason since the vast majority of peripherals fail horribly and those that do succeed in the short term are inevitably reduced to hat racks because future games don’t support them.  Companies are always moving on to the next peripheral once interest in the current one winds down because they’re stuck trying to ride hype for sales instead of creating a reliable, future-proof product.  Most of the games using these peripherals are never revisited.

Samba de Amigo was one of those games.  It’s hard to top maracas and trippy looking monkeys in a music game for pure originality (and ridiculousness).  And based on the fact that there’s not a particularly large built-in market for maraca games, it seemed unlikely that the series would be revived after the Dreamcast died.  But fortunately for us somebody working at the husk of a company we used to call Sega stood up one day and declared, “Sweet merciful crap! The Wii controller could be a maraca!”.  Initial previews from Joystiq say the game works but doesn’t feel exactly the same as the old maraca controllers.  My own experiences with the Wii remote are leaving me skeptical about the ability of the games ability to read the appropriate movements.  I’m struggled through some sloppy motion detection on the system already, although I can’t tell you whether it’s from bad programming or the limitations of the controller’s hardware.  Needless to say, missing or misreading a shake of the hand in this game is going to leave a lot of music fans pissed and ruin the game entirely.

On a related note, Activision (hereafter referred to as “Sheep Inc”) saw their ready made fortune in the music industry slipping away as the Harmonix-helmed Rock Band started to seriously eat into Guitar Hero’s dominance.  And of course Sheep Inc did the only thing they could think of: they followed.  So now we’re going to have three different games (Konami’s making one too) that are remarkably similar.  Sheep Inc has practically no history of innovation and originality and it’s only gotten worse in recent years.  Harmonix suckered them completely.  They built up the number one music franchise, sold it for tons of money, and then quickly knocked it off the mountaintop with something new and better.  Sheep Inc is going to feel pretty stupid when all they can think to do is add two cymbals to the drum kit while Harmonix continues to basically print money by truly pushing the genre forward.

Review: New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear

Set in an alternate 19th/early 20th Century where the British Empire still reigns supreme and magic and science collide Elizabeth Bear’s New Amsterdam is an fascinating look in a world equal parts familiar and strange.

Warning:  Vampire Romance Ahead.  Words I almost wish I had heard before starting the book, but ultimately I’m glad I didn’t as I would have missed out on a good read.  The book’s main characters are DCI (Detective Crown Inspector) Abigail Irene Garrett and Don Sebastian de Ulloa (the aforementioned vampire) the more interesting of the two, IMO, is DCI Garrett but the book focuses heavily on Sebastian.  Garrett is a hard drinking older woman disgraced and suffering in self-exile in New Amsterdam; serving as the British Crown’s chief investigator of all things magical.  Sebastian is a thousand year-old vampire, also in self-exile, looking to escape the trappings of the “Blood’s” (vampire) society in the fledgling British colonies.

In a series of linked stories we follow Garrett as she solves cases and gets tangled in the political strife between the colonial government and the crown.   At the same time we follow Sebastian, working as a PI in the colonies, as he solves cases (crossing paths with Garret) and acquires a Court (a group of trusted/loved individuals he can feed on)  and gets involved in the same political struggles as DCI Garrett.  Each story is self-contained eventually forming a more cohesive narrative.  Each is well paced, typically featuring a magical twist on a typical detective fiction trope (the first story is a “locked room” mystery) and each builds on the relationship between Sebastian and his Court.

Not being a huge fan of vampire stories this wasn’t a big draw for me but the world crafted by Bear was so vivid and compelling and as a result I wish more time was spent on Garrett and her personal story rather than on Sebastian.  Sebastian isn’t a bad character, but he is familiar, the vampire as tragic hero type isn’t new, and was certainly less interesting (to me at least) than Miss Garrett.  Regardless the world Bear crafted really drew me in and I would like to see more of it.  Given the final events of the book a return to the Colonies and series on what’s going on there would definitely be something I’d read.

The book walks some interesting genre lines: urban fantasy, vampire fantasy (maybe romance, but not too much), alternate history but manages the balance in almost pitch-perfect harmony.  Recommened overall for fantasy fans looking for something a little different, even those that hate vampires in their fantasy should at least give it a look, and fans of period fiction looking to branch out.  If you’re hesitant, or can’t find a copy, check out Baen’s e-book service where you can find a sample chapter.