Michael Jackson: Behind The Sonic?

Posted by Tom Servo on May 20, 2012 Music, Oddities, Tom Servo's Blog No Responses »

May 202012

The bar was officially raised for the standard of video games world wide when Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1994. With a lot of high expectations to live up to, Sega employed the best of the best in every department, including music. Without a formal agreement or any kind of written contract, Michael Jackson was hired to help compose the soundtrack for the tentatively titled Sonic & Knuckles. Yes, that’s right, the King of Pop was lurking behind the scenes, injecting 16 bit funkiness into your Sonic games!

The supposed lack of paperwork shrouds the entire situation in mystery, almost as if the collaboration was meant to be kept a secret from the beginning. … Continue Reading

The Mnemic Retrospective: 2000 and 2002 Demos

Posted by Jmon on May 18, 2012 Mnemic, Music Reviews, Reviews No Responses »

May 182012

Demos (2000, 2002)

It might seem odd that I’m talking about Mnemic’s demos after talking about their debut album. But don’t worry, there is a method to my madness. There are two demo records featuring a total of five songs. Every one of these songs is featured on Mechanical Spin Phenomena. The 2003 demo features the same lineup as Mechanical Spin Phenomena as well, so the demos for those songs only sound marginally different than the album versions. The 2000 demo however is very different. You see, Michael Bogbolle wasn’t around back in 2000. Instead, Mnemic had a different singer named Mark Bai.

Toonami is back!

Posted by Jmon on May 16, 2012 Blogs, Jmon's Blog No Responses »

May 162012

All of us here at STO grew up with Toonami. It introduced me to a lot of amazing shows and was a great influence on the things I’m interested in today. Believe it or not, Toonami is even one of the many influences for STO. It always felt like a central hub for awesome entertainment and unique music, all held together by a cool robot host who was beaming information to us from a space ship. I just thought it was so cool, I always wanted to accomplish a similar goal. STO was the result.

As you can imagine, Toonami always had a special place in my heart. … Continue Reading

Burger Eating Fat Man

Posted by Jmon on May 15, 2012 Images No Responses »

May 152012

The Mnemic Retrospective: Mechanical Spin Phenomena

Posted by Jmon on May 14, 2012 Mnemic, Music Reviews, Reviews No Responses »

May 142012

Mechanical Spin Phenomena (2003)

This is the beast that started it all. Mechanical Spin Phenomena changed the way I listen to music. It features nine songs that blend so many different sub genres of metal that the label didn’t even know how to classify it. So what did they do? They named a new genre: Future Fusion Metal. They even attached the tagline “Heavy metal for the 21st century” to their promotional material surrounding the album’s release. I’ve never been a big fan of labels or really specific genres, but the name “Future Fusion Metal” was not without purpose. I’ve heard people try and fail at describing Mnemic’s sound on numerous occasions. … Continue Reading

The Mnemic Retrospective: Introduction

Posted by Jmon on May 11, 2012 Mnemic, Music Reviews, Reviews No Responses »

May 112012

Allow me to introduce you to my favorite band: Mnemic. They’re a metal band from Aalborg, Denmark who have successfully pushed the envelope and created a new genre of music with each and every one of their albums. The writing and execution of their music has always been top notch, but for whatever reason, they’ve never garnered a lot of attention in the mainstream despite some sparse radio play and supporting big name acts such as Metallica, Meshuggah, Fear Factory, and Soilwork, to name a few. I discovered Mnemic back in 2005 and they have been my favorite band ever since. … Continue Reading

WTF Japan: Downloadable Content In 1995

Posted by Tom Servo on May 11, 2012 WTF Japan No Responses »

May 112012

Nintendo’s cover up for ancient Japanese black magic.

Let’s step back for a second to a mystical, forgotten time in technological history… 1995. Sega and Nintendo are still in heated competition, the Genesis and Super Nintendo are still very popular despite having been out for several years. Taking a huge technilogical leap, Nintendo set the bar a little higher by releasing a new game system called the Satellaview. What’s so special about this system, you ask? This system was able to connect to Nintendo’s satellites, allowing you to play extra chapters of existing game titles, kind of like modern day downloadable content. … Continue Reading

The things I find on the internet…

Posted by Jmon on May 8, 2012 Images No Responses »

May 082012

Rejected Child Killer Art

Posted by Tom Servo on May 4, 2012 Humor, Tom Servo's Blog No Responses »

May 042012

Here’s something I bet you’d never see, Fallout’s own Pip Boy kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach. This wasn’t meant for any of the 3D adaptations recently released, but instead for the already dark and edgy Fallout 2. I have a feeling if they hadn’t cut this from the final production there may have been a possibility that Black Isle, the game company behind Fallout, wouldn’t be with us today.

Here’s a quote from the artist himself on the subject:

“This image was unused and the only Vault Boy image to ever be cut from Fallout 2. (I’m sure you can figure out why) I remember when I got the request to do a perk illustration for “child Killer” that there would be no way to keep in from being offensive. … Continue Reading