Pop Culture

Reporter's Notebook: The Greatest Guitar Hero Player of Them All

Filed under: Pop Culture

By Kevin Hoffman

In this week's news story, I went to Rochester to pay a visit to Chris Chike, the 16-year-old Guitar Hero phenom that recently set a new Guinness record for highest score on the game's hardest song. Because of the constraints of the narrative, there was a lot of material that I didn't get a chance to use. Included among the cutting-room-floor scraps is an interview with RedOctane founder Charles Huang about the series, tips from Chike on how to master the trickiest parts of songs, and YouTube clips of Chike in action. All this and more you'll find after the jump.

Still with me? Good. Let's start with the interview with Charles Huang. Charles founded RedOctane with his brother Kai in 1999. Originally a producer of dance pads for Dance Dance Revolution, RedOctane struck gold in November 2005 when it teamed up with developer Harmonix to create Guitar Hero. As I write in my news story:

To date, the series has sold over 14 million copies and earned more than $1 billion. "Guitar Hero was the fastest video game to $1 billion in sales—we just beat out Pokemon," says Huang.

More from my interview with Huang:

How did you become involved in Guitar Hero?
It was a concept that we had worked on a total of about three years. In our business we had seen very successful music games in Asia but nothing that really caught on in the US. And one of our thoughts was there should be a way to make a really fun music game for the US market. And we thought guitar was the perfect instrument because rock and roll would be the music that would make it work in the US.

Were you impressed when you watched Chilte play "Through the Fire and Flames" live?
The guy that did it, it took him nearly a month to note chart that one. That was designed to be the song to test the skills of the highest caliber players. I don’t think somebody had in mind that somebody could get 97 percent of the notes right, which is what Chris hit. That’s over 3,500 notes on that expert song. You have to have a lot of accuracy and a lot of stamina. I play expert level. I’ve scored about 100,000 on that song.

Do you think Guitar Hero is good or bad for music education?
We’ve had guitar instructors tell that they have seen a lot more interest in kids wanting to play guitars because they play Guitar Hero. Sometimes the first thing they’ll do is sit them in front of Guitar Hero. … There’s so many people that play it and so many kids get exposed to great guitar music. One of the keys for people who want to play guitar music: they have to love guitar music.

You can find Chris Chike's YouTube page here, Some of my favorites are:

This demonstration of his fingering technique:

And this demonstration of "Through the Fire and Flames":

An excerpt from my interview with Chike:

How did you end up going to the Guiness Book of World Records tournament?
It wasn't even a tournament, I was posting my videos on YouTube and I guess they got ahold of it, and they said, "We think you have the highest score in the world so let's make it official, so we'll fly you out to new york and have witnesses and make it official." So that's what happened.

At what point did you realize you might be the world's best Guitar Hero player?
Once I look in the internet and being like "no one's gotten that high of a score so I'm pretty sure" and on X-box Live rankings once you get a score it automatically submits it to the X-box Live rankings, and I was No. 1 for that song (Through the Fire and Flames).

Now are there any rivals, people who are No. 1 in a different song?
Yeah, there's actually a couple people who are better than me at other songs, and I respect that. I'm not the best at every song, just this song, and this song just so happens to be able to get the highest score on. Some songs max out at 500,000, this one maxes out at 900,000-something, and that's what got me a little more famous because it goes based soley on high score.

How did you start building your skills to be at the level where you can get a 98% on this song?
It was a lot of practice. It all started with that (X-box Live) achievement they had, get 750,000 on any song, and this was the only song possible at the time to get that number, and so I said I want to be the first one to be get this achievement, and I was the first one, so I was like, well, I seem to be excelling at this song, so I might as well keep practicing.

How would you practice?
Just keep playing it, and there's practice mode where you focus on the parts you can't get, and keep practicing that certain part. And then move on to the next section. I still haven't mastered all the sections.

How many hours a day would you do this?
The days when I'd go for the record it would be too many, like five, like OCDing on that song, but if I'm just playing for fun it's like an hour or two.

At what point did you feel like you were qualified for the high score? When did you start keeping track of scores?
I actually started keeping track of my scores early on, I noticed I was getting good at the game after like a month, so I started keeping track of my scores and stuff, just comparing to everyone else.

When you're practicing, you're just doing it by yourself?
Yeah, it's just me, mastering a certain song. During school, it's after school; on the weekends, maybe after I wake up after breakfast or something. On weekends, I'll probably go out with friends, instead of just sitting here and playing Guitar Hero, cuz that's just depressing.

What was your mother's reaction when you were playing four hours a day?
First of all she was like, "Eat or something." On a weekend, she won't bother me about it, but on a weeknight, if I stay up real late, she'll be like, "Go to bed, you need sleep." But on the weekend it's never a problem.

Chris Chike recently won $2,000 in the national Guitar Hero III tournament sponsored by Play N Trade. But first he competed for the Minnesota state title. Check out the point differential in the rubber match! The difference-maker: Chike hit Star Power one note earlier.

Check out this promo for Guitar Hero: World Tour for Nintendo DS:

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at April 1, 2008 6:14 PM | Comments (5)

 

Watching the Oscars? See the Best Picture Posters

Filed under: Pop Culture

For your Academy Award-watching preparations: this site has all 79 posters for the movies that won Best Picture. You'll never get that artichoke dip made now. Might as well just crack open the beverage of your choice and scroll through, counting the films you've missed.

[Via Neatorama]

Posted by Jeff Shaw at February 23, 2008 1:10 PM | Comments (1)

 

In Bold Stand, President Condemns Nooses

Filed under: Pop Culture

You may recall our story a while back about a noose in a college newsroom. It was one of many recent noose-related incidents.

Now, in what analysts are calling his boldest stand on any issue since declaring that man would walk on the moon by 2020, President Bush has spoken out. His position: Nooses are bad.

Insiders say Katherine Kersten will have a pro-noose rebuttal ready for tomorrow's Strib.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at February 12, 2008 4:01 PM | Comments (1)

 

The Real Brock Lesnar UPDATED W/FIGHT VIDEO

Filed under: Pop Culture

Watching Brock Lesnar engage in no-contact sparring is like watching a polar bear perform an interpretive dance. At the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Brooklyn Center, his hulking, six-foot-three, 265-pound frame contorts and contracts as he lightly grapples with his sparring partner. Muscles ripple and flare through his gi, as if they’re calling out, demanding to be put to more visceral use. He barely breaks a sweat, save for a few beads clinging to his ample brow.

There’s no pummeling, tackling, or suplexes for Lesnar today. He’s training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu—“the gentle art.” The fighting style, popularized in America by Royce Gracie, who used it to beat much larger opponents in the first UFC, eschews brute power in favor of technique and physical dexterity. The goal is not to knock out your opponent, but to submit him with arm bars, leg locks, and choke holds.

“I’m focusing on my submission game,” says Lesnar. “And learning how to defend against arm locks and leg locks.”

The 30-year-old will need these skills when he makes his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut tomorrow at UFC 81: Breaking Point. When Lesnar announced his entrance into the world of Mixed Martial Arts in August of 2006, fans and industry insiders wondered: Could a former professional wrestler tough it out in the unchoreographed fury of the Octagon?

There’s reason enough to think so.

“We’re talking about a former NCAA champion here,” says Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “Athletically, there’s never been anything like him in the UFC. He could be a real superstar heavyweight.”

Lesnar’s career has followed a winding and turbulent path since his days as a dominating heavyweight at the University of Minnesota. Upon graduation, the Webster, South Dakota native signed with the World Wrestling Federation (later known as World Wrestling Entertainment). WWE chairman Vince McMahon fast-tracked the physically gifted Lesnar to superstardom, billing him as “The Next Big Thing.” At 25, Lesnar became the youngest man ever to “win” the WWE heavyweight championship belt.

But Lesnar soon grew disenchanted with the gig and quit in March of 2004. “I really disliked the travel,” he says. “And I wanted to compete.”

To that end, he signed on with the Minnesota Vikings the following season as a defensive lineman. But his lack of experience (he hadn’t played football in nine years), coupled with a groin injury sustained in an April motorcycle accident, put a quick end to his NFL dreams. The Vikings cut Lesnar that November.

After a brief return to pro wrestling—this time abroad with New Japan Pro Wrestling—Lesnar turned his attention to the budding sport of Mixed Martial Arts. He began training with Marty Morgan, his assistant coach at the U of M.

“He transferred his wrestling skills into the martial arts realm extremely well,” says Morgan, who puts in 20 to 30 hours a week with Lesnar. “He came in with a really open mind and picks up everything very quick.”

Lesnar’s first match will be a strong test of how quickly he has adapted to the new game. He faces Frank Mir, a six-foot-one, 240-pound, submission artist best known for breaking brawny former UFC champion Tim Sylvia’s forearm using an arm bar (ironically, Sylvia is fighting at the top of Saturday’s card). Mir is himself is a former UFC champion looking to get another shot at the belt after breaking his leg in a 2004 motorcycle accident.

While Lesnar looked strong in his MMA debut—he defeated Korean Min Soo Kim by submission in just one minute and nine seconds—the Mir fight is sure to be a tougher challenge.

“Stylistically, I don’t know if it’s the right opponent: a new guy versus experienced former world champion,” says Meltzer. “He’s gotta watch out for Mir’s submission game. I think [UFC president Dana White’s] hope is that he goes in there and destroys Mir and turns out to be a heavyweight monster. There’s great marketing potential for him if things go right.”

Mir showed a fair amount of chutzpah during an interview with Internet TV channel Raw Vegas last month.

“The fact that [Lesnar] was willing to take this fight in the UFC as his debut, that makes me a little mad,” he said. “So yeah, I want to fight him and show him what kind of mistake he made.”

UPDATE: A video of the fight was posted on YouTube. Here's the embed (at least until the UFC gets it taken down):

Posted by Matt Snyders at February 1, 2008 7:23 PM | Comments (1)

 

Diablo Cody on David Letterman

Filed under: Pop Culture

David Letterman plays an important role in the Diablo Cody mystique. Back when she was just a humble stripper/memoirist, Diablo made her now legendary first appearance on Letterman, where she was bequeathed with the first and only "Dave's Book Club" stamp of approval. For those who haven't seen it, here's the now-famous star turn:

So it was with much anticipation that I tuned into her triumphant return on Tuesday night. Details after the jump.

Diablo looked liked a latter-day Bettie Page in a leopard-print cocktail dress. No sooner was she introduced than Dave brought up her book, rakishly suggesting that Candy Girl should be her next screenplay. Not to be outdone, Cody sarcastically explained why it likely won't happen: "I finally have a modicrum of credibility with the whole Oscar thing. I'll go write Juggs The Movie."

The most memorable part of the first Letterman appearance was Cody's claim that if the writing gig didn't work out she'd get "right back on the pole," and she referenced it by saying that was no longer an option. "I would go back to it if the goods weren't aging," she said. But she went on to explain that "phone sex is great training for a screenwriter."

Toward the end, Dave wanted his share of the Oscar glory, saying, "I like to think I had something to do with this."

To which Diablo said, "I think you did!"

I'll post a YouTube clip of the latest appearance as soon as it becomes available. In the mean time, please to enjoy Matt Smith's probing interview with Diablo Cody, or peruse the archive of her blog, Pussy Ranch.

Here's the YouTube clip of last night's appearance (Thanks Jason!):

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at January 23, 2008 12:10 AM | Comments (1)

 

Requiem for a Stadium

Filed under: Pop Culture

This week's City Pages features the 10 best and 10 worst moments at the Metrodome. Use this comments thread to debate our choices and provide some of your own.

Over at MnSpeak, Max Sparber has started a thread asking commenters to talk about their own best and worst moments. And here’s a YouTube clip of Best Moment No. 3, Kent Hrbek’s controversial tag of Ron Gant. Please to enjoy.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at September 26, 2007 12:56 PM | Comments (2)

 

The Dutchman is halfway to New York

Filed under: Pop Culture

The last time we talked to the Dutchman, a local vets advocate rolling across America to Manhattan in his wheelchair, he was camped-out on the lawn outside a Wal-Mart in Madison, Wisconsin. Two months later, he's in Ontario, Canada, making his way down the side of Highway 3. "I'm on my third chair," says Robert William Van Vranken II, speaking over his cell phone as trucks roar by in the background. "I went from Minneapolis to Menomonie, Wisconsin, on a manual chair, then burnt out the electric motor on a power chair. But I have over 600 miles on this chair."

Rolling along non-interstate highways between Minnesota and New York with a bike trailer behind him, the Dutchman has made pretty good time (50 miles a day), while raising money for a new Spinal Cord Injury/Disorder Center at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, via his website, www.myspace.com/dutchmanrolling. (Instead of kicking him off their lawn, Wal-Mart made a donation.) His secret is to not push the electric motor. "I go an hour, then I gotta stop for about 25 minutes and let it cool down," he says.

The Dutchman has faced worse dangers than a burnt-out motor: While changing wires on his batteries in a bike path between Madison and Milwaukee, a snake got its teeth in him. "He bit my stump," says Vranken, who lost his lower left leg in a bus accident last year (had had been drinking, and fell under the vehicle). The swelling on the stump has gone down, so he doesn't think the snake was poisonous.

"Life goes on," he says. "My new hairspray is insect repellent."

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at August 31, 2007 3:52 PM | Comments (0)

 

Drinking and biking

Filed under: Pop Culture

Believe it or not, you can legally drive drunk in Minnesota if you're riding a bicycle, as long as you don't do something stupid, like plow directly into a police car--as a friend of a friend did recently, and was charged with careless driving under MN Statute 169.13. If you're steering 16 people on one giant human-powered vehicle, however, no one will insure you if you're also drinking alcohol. Which is why the new local, Netherlands-style cafe-on-wheels PedalPub (www.pedalpub.com) provides a (sober) driver to groups of up to 16 riders, who then power the cycle with their feet while seated at an open-air bar. "Bar" might be a slight misnomer: Riders can drink on the vehicle, but only while on private property, and with the property owner's permission. But for $150 per hour, PedalPub provides pub-crawl tours of Nordeast, Lake Calhoun, and other neighborhoods. The whole thing is more expensive than renting individual bikes, but cheaper than a limo or party bus, and healthier, too. The main thing riders should worry about: making it over that last hill.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at August 29, 2007 8:16 PM | Comments (1)

 

Don't forget August 5 is National Friendship Day, followed by Hollow Indifference Week

Filed under: Pop Culture

The first Sunday of August is fast approaching and that can only mean one thing: National Friendship Day will soon be upon us. Proclaimed by the U.S. Congress in 1935, National Friendship Day helped remind a depressed, broke-ass nation that a friend in need is likely standing in a bread line indeed. And that it might be worth sending a card. Or at least saying "hi."

The date of observance is still with us, now accompanied by Women's Friendship Day (held this year on September 16), Old Friends, New Friends Week (third week of May), and International Friendship Month (February).

The following dates pay homage to other, less celebrated incarnations of human interaction. Mark your calendars.

Aug. 18: "Casual Acquaintance Day"
Sept. 4-10: "Hollow Indifference Week"
Sept. 21: "Inexplicable Infatuation Day"
Oct. 18: "Drinking Buddy Day"
Nov.: "National Friends-with-Benefits Month"
Dec. 16: "Thinly Veiled, Mutual Contempt Day"
Dec. 25: "Invisible Friendship Day"
Jan. 6-12: "International Estranged Roommate Week"
Feb. 1: "Haven't-We-Met-Before-You-Look-Totally-Familiar Day"
Feb. 14: "Valentine's Day"
April 14-20: "Dealer Appreciation Week"

If we missed any, please share them here.

Posted by Matt Snyders at August 1, 2007 2:37 PM | Comments (0)

 

Guess whether the priest is "pro-heart" or "pro-head"

Filed under: Pop Culture

Two friends from the Twin Cities are among the four finalists competing in the 2007 Great American Think-Off, which will name "America's Greatest Thinker." Episcopal priest Paul D. Allick and arts administrator Joe Kaiser were among the 535 contestants who submitted essays from far away as London and Guam answering the question: "Which should you trust more—your head or your heart?"

Hosted in New York Mills, Minnesota, the contest winds up Saturday with a live debate, in which the audience chooses the winner (7:00 p.m., James W. Mann Performing Arts Center, New York Mills High School, 218.385.3339). Allick and Kaiser say they entered together on opposing sides, and debated the question over dinners at the Leaning Tower of Pizza on Lyndale.

"If Joe wins he'll be walking home," says Allick. "Because he's getting a ride there from me. If I win, I get to gloat all the way home, and he rides in back." UPDATE: Kaiser wins Think-Off, heart beats head.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at June 6, 2007 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

 

D'oh!: Springfield, MN says "no" to the Simpsons

Filed under: Pop Culture

Sixteen U.S. cities named Springfield are vying for the honor of being the official hometown of The Simpsons in conjunction with the July release the of successful FOX cartoon's first movie. Springfield, Minnesota, however, is not one of them. According to an AP story, City Manager Malcolm Tilberg said the citizens of the Brown County village in the south-central part of the state found little interest in Homer, Bart, Mr. Burns, and their yellow-skinned ilk putting them on the map. "Everything the fictitious Springfield is, we're not. We're a clean, close-knit community. There's no pollution, no waste dumps, nobody misbehaving all the time. And we don't want to be made a parody of," Tilberg said. The recent events have, however, placed Springfield in the running for Most Humorless City in America.

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 1, 2007 9:21 AM | Comments (1)

 

Muddy field of dreams

Filed under: Pop Culture

Stephen Dick is a young man with a simple dream: A sunny day in July, a mud pit the size of a football field, and 288 people romping around in it up to their knees.

Dick is the man behind the first-annual Muddy Sunday volleyball tournament, to be held at Corcoran Lions Park in Hamel. Preparing for the dirty event has more or less consumed his non-working life.

A business analyst for Target ("I work with sheets"), Dick spends his spare time begging his way onto volleyball league e-mail lists, maintaining a sleek Web page for the event, and, for exercise, sticking tournament flyers on windshields near volleyball courts around the Cities. So far, he has already signed up 12 of a hoped-for 48 teams.

Future plans?

Dick, 24, plans to put the Twin Cities on the mud volleyball map. "Forty-eight teams is not a bad start," he says, but it is just that: a start. "We're going to make it one of the biggest tournaments in America. We're thinking very big."

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at May 30, 2007 5:42 PM | Comments (1)

 

St. Paulite selling all her possessions on eBay has auction pulled on a technicality

Filed under: Pop Culture

It was widely reported yesterday that St. Paul resident Lisa Perry, in the throes of a self-described "mid-life excitement," was selling all her possessions in a single eBay auction. Today, however, Perry's eBay listing abruptly vanished. Had Perry suddenly gotten cold feet? No, says eBay spokeswoman Catherine English, the 45-year-old free spirit just hadn't played by eBay's rules. Explains English: Perry made mention of proceeds from the sale going to charity, but company policy says you need to back up such a claim with proof. Perry didn't. And so her stuff was zapped. "She'll be welcome to re-list her items in a way that complies with company policies," English assured. So, that's the good news for the charities. The bad? The bidding, which according to the Strib had reached $2,325 early this morning, will start at zero.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at April 10, 2007 5:24 PM | Comments (1)