A plastic guitar, heavy metal, and some beer.

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Nathan Meunier

I do not have a love for Metallica. In fact, I can safely say they’re a band I’ve hated for the better portion of my existence. But the lack of Rock Band II at my local GameStop this weekend and a hearty “buy two ridiculously expensive used games and take home one moderately expensive used game for free” deal spurred me to take the plunge on Guitar Hero: Metallica. After a few beers and plowing through the first dozens songs on Expert, I can say I’m loving every second of this game. Metallica is just awful, yet I can definitely appreciate the level of challenge this game presents. Beating Guitar Hero: World Tour on Expert didn’t take as much effort as I had initially hoped, so I’m pleased to be presented with a real challenge again. Also, Judas Priests’ “Hell Bent for Leather” definitely made my weekend. After a hearty winning streak, I finally succumbed to the assinine finger-crushing depravity of Slayer’s “War Ensemble,” but I fully intend to master that hellish beast on repeat attacks. Being a former actual drummer, I simply can’t wait to plug in my second kick pedal to the GH:WT drumkit and kick some ass on Expert+ mode. Slaytanic! Oh, and I’m finally the proud owner of Gears of War 2 and Halo 3 – however, I’ve yet to have a moment of free time to delve into their delicious depths. That is all.

Nerdcore, Videogames, and Projects

Posted on May 15, 2009 by Nathan Meunier

Expansive research and interviews for my forthcoming book on the music of geek and gamer culture continues (no solid title yet). I’ve got a variety of related articles in the works, one of which — a piece on the connection between nerdcore hip-hop and gaming — will be featured in an upcoming weekly issue of The Escapist early next month.

Aside from that major project, I’m continuing to churn out reviews, features, and columns on a steady basis (as you’ll see much of it posted here) and occasionally finding time to venture out into the outside world and get a nice blast of pleasant weather. Considering it’s still the slow season in the gaming world, it’s been a moderately busy few months, and I’m hoping to expand the volume of publications I write for in the near future. In any event, figured I’d drop a little text here to break up the article posts. I’ll be doing so off and on as I’ve got interesting stuff to share. Cheers.

Stuff in the works

Posted on May 5, 2009 by Nathan Meunier

Aside from posting blurbs from my recently published articles, reviews, and other pieces on this site, I’ll be adding in updates on the book project I’m working on in the near future. I also have plans for some exclusive content I’ll eventually be rolling out.

Also, since this site is new, I’ve left out links to much of my work published in the past few years. I’ll be slowly adding in some of the better pieces from past years into the archive.

Hey folks…

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Nathan Meunier

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be regularly posting a selection of my recently published articles here each week, along with random musings on video games, game journalism, and geeky goodness. Also, watch this space for exclusive content and details on a major long-term writing project I have in the works.