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Top 5: XBOX Live Arcade Games (July 07)

The XBOX Live Arcade catalog keeps growing each week, and with a great mix of new titles and old classics it's hard to decide what to spend your points on. This is my "Top 5" of what I'm currently hooked on.

1. Pinball FX (800 points)

Most pinball games fail on consoles, Pinball FX is the exception. This is fast and fun pinball! The sound, graphics, and vibration from the controller make this the next best thing to actually playing a pinball machine.

2. PAC-MAN Championship Edition (800 points)

PAC-MAN is a classic game that has never really been updated till now. PAC-MAN Championship Edition is PAC-MAN on crack. Fast, loud, colorful, and challenging! It brought back my love of the game.

3. Sonic the Hedgehog Arcade & Golden Axe (400 points each)

Sonic the Hedgehog put SEGA on the map back in the day and this classic arcade version of the game reminds us why. Very fast and fun (and the closest thing we have to Mario on the XBOX). Golden Axe is a typical side-scrolling hack-and-slash arcade game by SEGA. From an outsider it looks lame but once you start playing you'll be hooked.

Sonic the Hedgehog

4. Contra (400 points)

Although it's not the NES version, Contra is still one hell of a classic game that defines the XBOX Live Arcade.

5. Hexic HD (FREE)

The only XBOX Live Arcade game that I can play for hours after a year of playing it. Hexic HD is up there with Tetris when it comes to my obsession with puzzle games.

With the release of Super Contra, Bomberman Live, and Wing Commander Arena in the last couple of weeks I figure I'll be doing this list monthly from now on.

 

Top 5 - Old School Hip Hop Tracks

Yesterday on CityNews International we covered RapSpace (think MySpace for rap and hip hop artists). The story got me thinking about my favorite old school hip hop tracks. You see, I grew up in a neighborhood where hip hop was always playing out of boomboxes (usually on the bball court) and it stuck with me (as did the classic rock my uncles played at the cottage all summer).

Since I had more then five I narrowed it down. Let me know what you think should be on or off this list in the comments.

1. N.W.A Straight Outta Compton [Explicit Video Link]

N.W.A made vulgar, sexual, violent music and this track demonstrates all of that! The original and the best "gangsta" rap tack ever. Straight Outta Compton is also great to listen when you're cruising around Beverly Hills (at least that's what I blasted when I was visiting).

2. Public Enemy Don't Believe the Hype [Live Video Link]

Fight the Power was a much bigger hit for PE but Don't Believe the Hype is a much better track.

3. Maestro Fresh Wes Let Your Backbone Slide [Video Link]

Maestro is not just the biggest Canadian rapper of all time - he is the best! Let Your Backbone Slide reminds me of a very innocent time. It will always be on my iPod (along with Drop the Needle - another classic track of his) and Maestro will always be my favorite Northern rapper.

4. A Tribe Called Quest Scenario [Video Link]

One of my Top 5 bands of all-time is A Tribe Called Quest. Picking just one song by them is a hard task. Scenario deserves it though as it is still getting air-time on radio stations around the world.

5. LL Cool J Going Back to Cali [Video Link]

I don't think so! The East Coast/West Coast rivalries is one of the biggest battles in the hip hop scene - this is the beginning of it.

So there you have it! My Top 5 Old School Hip Hop Tracks. One observation while writing this list - YouTube has almost every music video you could ask for!

 

North American Scum - a Top 5 list

I'm really digging the new LCD Soundsystem track North American Scum (I even added it to my MySpace profile).

Here are five other tracks that are stuck in my head lately:

1.  Teddybears - Cobrastyle [iTunes Link] [MySpace Link]

Amber's obsession with Sweden has spread! I love the Teddybears and this track is great.

2. Beck - Cellphone's Dead [iTunes Link]

Excellent track off Beck's new album The Information. Very chill.

3. Nas ft. Will.i.Am - Hip Hop is Dead [iTunes Link]

Not the first time Nas has sampled Indagadadavida but this track rocks!

4. Modest Mouse - Dashboard [MySpace Link]

I've always been a Modest Mouse fan. Now that Johnny Marr of The Smiths has joined the band (on their seventh album) I am a SUPER FAN!

5. Artic Monkeys vs. Roots Manuva - Witness the Curtains Closing [MySpace Link] [Website]

A Sam Flanagan remix that kicks some major butt! Never heard of Roots Manuva before this track and now I'm all over him.

RANDOM OBSERVATION: I started my post with I'm really digging... and just thought - wouldn't it be great if Apple added digg-like features to iTunes? This could even work with  MySpace and Amazon. Like a song - digg it! Like a band - digg them! Maybe this will be the next big feature from digg (or maybe Apple will buy them and integrate it themselves)?

Happy Halloween - Top 5!

Halloween is my favorite time of year. I like the change of season from hot, sticky summer to cool, damp fall (in Canada at least). I enjoy the eerie look all the trees have now that the leaves have fallen. Most of all though, I love that every television network is playing horror movies for a week straight!

Top 5 - Movies to Watch on Halloween

Some of my picks are common and some are a little out there. This is not my Top 5 Horror Movies (that is still being compiled), these are just movies that get me in the mood to trick or treat!

1. Halloween

How can you not put Halloween on a list of Movies to Watch on Halloween?! This is the movie that started the slasher genre. The famous William Shatner mask. The music! Jamie Lee Curtis!

2. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn

Bruce Campbell is a genius in front of the camera and Sam Raimi is a genius behind the camera. The first Evil Dead was good but Evil Dead 2 is wicked good!

3. Wolf Creek

A recent film I caught a few months ago and didn't know what to make of it. Watched it again this past weekend and felt so disturbed that I knew this would be a title to watch again next Halloween.

4. A Nightmare on Elm St.

Not a real stretch here. Wes Craven is one of my idols (I even met him once) and the character of Freddy Krueger is better than any other horror villain I can think of. Plus Johnny Depp would not be a star today if it wasn't for this film.

5. Night of the Creeps

A great B grade film from the 80's. Not that good but very enjoyable. Watching it with a group of friends is always fun too.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Top 5 - Industrial Songs

The film High Fidelity (which I watched for the umpteenth time on the weekend) inspired me to start posting lists of my favorite songs (if you have not seen High Fidelity I highly recommend it). This may or may not be a regular feature, but I do want to hear your input on the songs I list. If you feel a song should/shouldn't be on the list post a comment and tell me why.

I decided to start with an obscure genre - industrial - because I very much enjoy listening to it. I also feel it is underrated in the music scene and needs more recognition.

All the songs listed are raw, heavy and sometimes a little crazy. They all have one thing in common though - they get me going!

1. Ministry Thieves [iTunes]

If you're driving while this is playing be prepared to get pulled over!

2. Nine Inch Nails Terrible Lie [iTunes]

Excellent song to listen to after breaking up with someone.

3. RevCo Do Ya Think I'm Sexy [YouTube video]

Almost better then Rod Stewart and much better then the new Paris Hilton version.

4. K.M.F.D.M Juke Joint Jezebel [YouTube video]

Great song to dance to at a club. Probably the most mainstream song on the list.

5. Front 242 Serial Killers Don't Kill Their Boyfriends [iTunes]

Kind of evil. I love it.