(Podcasting) Board Games Based On Performance
No commentsBy Victor Epand
With the huge popularity that exists nowadays with video games that can offer great music and graphics along with an interactive storyline, pressure is placed on traditional board games to keep the attention of the players as well as these games with controllers might provide. Games like Guitar Hero, which test not only the hand-eye coordination of players, but their musical skill, will often give players a world to escape into that makes time fly with the level of concentration that they give. Other games, like Dance Dance Revolution, give players something physical to compete with and this keeps all players active, holding their attention.
Board games are starting to get the message and are re-inventing themselves in ways that are designed to get players up and moving around, performing actions. This stops players from merely sitting around a table, using their intellects to win a game. Now, players are forced to use other skills as well in a variety of ways. This stimulation, both mental and physical, is good for anyone trying to enjoy themselves with a friendly competitive game and, as the popularity of these performance-based board games grow, more and more games will surely be moving in this direction.
The American Idol board game is one of these games that will test players in more ways than just a simple race around the board. Based on the hit television show where contestants compete against each other by singing various songs, this show is a competition determined to discover who the best singer out of the group is. The board game works much on the same level, having all of the players race around a board to collect points and move on to the finalist area. When two people reach the finalist area, they will each sing along to a song to determine who is the stronger singer and the winner of the game. While this game isn’t overly challenging, it gives players the chance to do something more than race around the board.
Stepping it up, however, the American Idol All-Star Challenge DVD game makes players work a little harder. Made by the same people who make the Scene It game, this game uses a DVD to help players complete the tasks and sing the songs they need to sing in order to compete. This game is all-around more inclusive, having players not only sing, but perform dance routines to earn performance stars, by which the game is judged. While points are not always rewarded on who actually sung the best, the game does allow people to actually get up and do something, making them work for the prize.
Other games also have heavy elements of performance involved. Cranium uses a number of factors during its competition, not simply trivia and knowledge. Players of this game could be forced to either draw or sculpt a clue out of clay or perhaps to make a performance for their team to guess. These performances can work like charades, where they have to silently act out a clue. They can take the form of a celebrity impersonation or even a musical clue, where they have to hum a song to make others guess it!
Victor Epand is an expert consultant for board games, chess boards, and dungeons and dragons miniatures. You will find all these things and more if you visit performance board games, chess boards, and dungeons and dragons miniatures.
The Many Kinds of Music from Memphis
By Phoenix Delray
Music from Memphis has forever made a profound impact in the music world, and the city of Memphis has earned such nicknames as Home of the Blues The Birthplace of Soul, The Home of Rock and Roll, and Soulsville, USA. The music from Memphis has always been thick, rich, heart felt, and varied. Beginning with jug bands and Bluegrass, music from Memphis would become a permanent presence in the music world.
Music from Memphis really began in the early 1920s when jug bands played on the streets of the city, the center being once again Beale Street. Using homemade, simple instruments like the banjo, guitar, and a jug of course for the bass, music from Memphis erupted on the streets and branched into what we know today as the Blues. The Blues is music that is full of catchy rhythms and lyrics about life, work, and faith.
The music from Memphis known as Soul began in the little neighborhoods around Memphis. These neighborhoods became known as Soulsville, USA. Other areas were more concentrated in the blues, R&B, and eventually, Rock and Roll. Soul is a style of music that combines R&B music with Gospel music. It has been said that Memphis Soul Music is similar to Gospel in almost every way except one. The only difference between the two is the substitution of the word Lord in Gospel to the word Baby in Soul.
When World War II had come to an end, music from Memphis began to see the use of electronic instruments for the first time. Many musicians from all over the country came to Memphis with these electric instruments, changing the sound of Memphis blues. The musicians would gather on Beale Street, where there were recording studios up and down. These early musicians would record some of the first music from Memphis that was classic blues, rhythm and blues, and rock & roll records. Once of the most famous of these studios was Sun Records, who would record the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, among many others.
The catchy, new, unique blends of music from Memphis quickly spread through the African American communities in Chicago, Philadelphia, Memphis, and Detroit. Music from Memphis was most heavily influenced by gospel, folk, and the jug bands, more so than in the other cities. The unique sound of music from Memphis that resulted from such a thick homemade influence was described as unpolished and raw. Up North, the sound had been more polished and smooth. Music from Memphis was gritty and raspy, which is what has made music from Memphis one of the most loved and time honored musical genres in the country.
To know more about music from Memphis please visit our website.
The Network For Piano Lessons On Podcasts
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 5:45 am and is filed under music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
