t e. b-si
4B - Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
4B - Thursday, January 15, 2009The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
THE VAULT I'LODE RUNNER' (1983) NES
A low-res high point of gaming
By JAMIE BLOCK bars-st
SeniorArtsEditor spectru
and gra
Every so often a game comes
along that's so wonderfully simple,
intuitive and entertaining that it
sparks a franchise. Mario did it,
Zelda did it and, though not as
many people may recognize its
name, "Lode Runner" did it.
"Lode Runner" is the tale of agold
hunter who made a lot of enemies in
his days on the prowl. At least that's
one possible story, as the game
offers no explanation or plot of any
kind. In "Lode Runner," the player
controls a man in what appear to be
8-bit overalls, guiding him through
levels to collect gold while avoiding
evil men in white spacesuits. Once a
player collects all the gold, he must
navigate his way to a ladder that
appears at the top of the level and
make his escape.
The mysterious man does not
come unarmed. He carries a drill
and/or blaster and/or magical pow-
ers (it's hard to tell with1983 graph-
ics) which he can use to delete the
floor tile on either side of him, creat-
ing a pit into which his strange pur-
suers blindly fall. The blaster must
also be used to access new areas of
the level. This is game strategy in its
most simple form.
The levels are laid out on an invis-
ible grid and feature brick floors,
indestructible metal floors, ladders
and poles for climbing on monkey
trum
stimula
any con
whichc
gamesf
With
able in
them,
short a
ence d
Cr
8
yle. They come in an amazing with "Lode Runner," it's a refresh-
am of colors, namely orange inglyseamless andintuitiveprocess.
ay. While the tiny color spec- Even with only seven or so parts
doesn't make for a visually to choose from and a small space
;tingexperience,there's never in which to build, there are end-
fusion about what's going on, less possibilities. Building the most
can't be said for most other difficult-but-possible level imagin-
from the early'80s. able, then watching friends suffer
h only 50 levels and no notice- through it, keeps "Lode Runner"
crease in difficulty between entertaining far longer than the sin-
the single-player game is gle-player mode alone allows.
Lnd sweet. Still, the experi- "Lode Runner" is quite primi-
oesn't have to end once all tive, as every game was in 1983. But
it was successful enough to spawn
a series of equally fun, but increas-
ingly complex, sequels. From the
Players can unoriginally titled "Lode Runner
levels of 2" to the slightly overdramatized,
eate o but probably superior, "Lode Run-
ner: The Legend Returns," there has
their own, never been a "Lode Runner" game
that has fallen short. These later
games are harder to find in playable
form nowadays, but well worth the
effort. "The Legend Returns" offers
an equally easy-to-use level editor
els are complete. First of all, with more features and much pret-
ne offers a two-player mode, tier graphics.
lets you compete against a Not just a franchise-starter, the
though not at the same time. original "Lode Runner" is a stand-
ly, and much more impor- out gem from the early days of gam-
"Lode Runner" was one of ing. It's simpler than many arcade
t games to let players design games and doesn'tevenhave anysort
wn levels. of tutorial. But within a few seconds
A editors are extremely hit- of starting the first level, the game
these days, and the pro- becomes familiar and engaging. It's
ing of many games is too a game that transcends the techno-
cated to allow players to logical restrictions of the early '80s
anything of their own. But to still be enjoyable today.
the lev
the gar
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HERB DAVID
From page 1B
terbury House, the recording loca-
tion of Neil Young's newest live
disc, used to be in Nickels Arcade.
It's hard to imagine these legend-
ary names being attached to real
flesh-and-blood twenty-some-
things you could pass while walk-
ing down the street.
David looks through his notes,
trying to place Hendrix's Ann
Arbor on the Ann Arbor we know
today. He reads from ayellow note-
book page that contains graphite
scrawls in his loose, loopy hand-
writing: "The scene of State Street,
Saturday night, April 1964. Never
been more music anywhere or any
time or any place. People on their
way to catch some jams, the streets
crowded."
"There were long-haired punks
in tight black leather pants - and
they had to be. tight - beatniks,
hippies, some in orange robes
hung with beads ringing cymbals
and gongs, chanting mantras: 'Om
padma, padmaom.' There were fol-
kies in penny loafers, bell-bottoms,
chinos, hair cut short, combed
back neatly. Others in suits and
dresses."
This is the same street most
students walk down every day to
get to class, the site of textbook-
buying and burrito-eating, which
seems too far removed from the
1960s Ann Arbor where "music
was accompanied by drugs, speed
and LSD and sex in the streets,"
David said. He quoted John Sin-
clair when he added, "(it's) power
to the people through music"... and
other things, risky or otherwise.
The Herb David Guitar Stu-
dio was more than a hangout for
celebrity musicians. David is an
accomplished instrument maker
and repairman who has done
projects for Jerry Garcia, Eric
Clapton, John Paul Jones and
Carole King, among many others.
His skills are so adept he was able
to completely re-piece a smashed
guitar for Clarence White, the
guitarist for the Byrds.
"He ran over his guitar and he
brought it to me on Monday, and
it was all a box of cornflakes, it
was all shattered up," David said.
"He said 'I've got a gig on Friday
- a recording session in L.A. Can
you put it back together?' " David
ended up re-piecing the guitar in
two days without using any new
wood to fix the structure of the
instrument. "Wednesday I handed
the guitar to him. I fit (the pieces)
together, and you couldn't even tell
ithadbeen shattered. I did it pretty
good:And he recorded with it."
David's instrument-making
ability can be seen all over the
shop in the form of custom-made
instruments with intricate wood-
carvings and etchings. His desk is
piled high with copies of"The Fine
Art of Woodcarving" volumes 1-8
and intricately carved wooden
flutes. His office is decorated with
MONAE
From page 1B
music," she said. "By breaking it
up we thought it'd be very impor-
tant for others to process the story
and not be too overwhelmed,"
Monie continued.
W.A.S. also produced a coincid-
ing short film, rather than a con-
ventional music video, reinforcing
the concept of not confining one-
self to a single form of art.
Presenting imaginative con-
cepts, preaching a positive
message and putting on an ener-
getic live show are all important
for Monae, but it's her undeni-
able vocal talent that brings these
goals to life. Her musical influ-
ences are infinitely far-reaching:
She possesses the soul of James
Brown, the -voice of Judy Gar-
land, the attitude of Mick Jagger,
the style of Outkast, the spunk of
Elvis Presley and the creativity of
Bjfrk. To say that Janelle Monae
is an anomaly when it comes to
music would be a definite under-
statement. Regardless, her aggres-
sive approach to the creation and
presentation of her art is some-
thing that the current musical
landscape seriously needs.
wall hangings containing the first
instrument he made - a mandolin
crafted out of a log he hollowed out
- and a lute with a "Not for Sale -
Made by Herb David" tag woven
between the strings.
He has taught his woodwork-
ing trade to others as well. "Most
of the musicians around town
worked at the Herb David Gui-
tar Studio at one time or another,
teaching or helping in the store,"
David said. One particular person
was a guy named Dan, a guitarist
for a popular R&B band called The
Prime Movers.
"Dan lived ... down the hall from
me - my first studio was on the
second floor of State Street, after
I moved out of that basement,"
David recalls. Dan had a room-
mate named Jim, and, as it turns
out, "the guys were Dan Erlewine,
who was a guitar player in this
band, and Jim Osterberg, who was
the singer. Dan worked for me, Jim
was a nice guy." David describes
Osterberg as just another guy, then
adds, "And Jim Osterberg - that's
Iggy."
"Iggy" meaning Iggy Pop, who
later quit the Prime Movers and
moved to Chicago to cement his
identity as a rebellious music
icon. "Jim became known as Iggy
Pop because he formally started
a band called the Iguanas - the
Iguanas created the Iggy part,
and Pop because he had a friend
called Jim Pop with no eye-
brows," he said. "So Iggy shaved
his eyebrows and became Iggy
Pop." Later the "nice guy" Oster-
berg ended up becoming "scary
and unpredictable" Iggy, who
helped to usher in the American
punk movement.
Ann Arbor was an active place
of change in the '60s, where the
changing mainstream - music
sounds reflected the changing
socialsituations of the'60s, includ-
ing the Civil Rights Movementthe
Stonewall Riots and the Vietnam
War. The '60s were a time when
people realized that the personal
was political, that music was more
than just entertainment; it was a
mentality, a way of life. Musical
innovators like Hendrix and Iggy
Pop were playing "industrial-
strength music - it had to be loud,
fast, mind-shattering," David said.
"Ann Arbor was the political cen-
ter of the country... and they came
to my studio."
a MURtTsYes b WlNDALANDARTSAOt20T07Y.
Janelle Monde's debut EP was released in August 2007-.
"It's all about knowing your art
... throwing your colors on a canvas
and seeing what comes out," she
explained.
When asked about what she
wants her audience to take away
from her art, Monae referred back
to her incendiary metaphor, and
said, "I just want them to feel fire
within their hearts." Specifically
referencing her upcoming perfor-
mance, Monae added, "I want (the
audience) to want to start a revolu-
tion after seeing the show ... hope-
fully they figure out how they can
start that revolution with the great
gift that they were given, in a posi-
tive way."
These stimulating words
should resonate with a crowd
that believes in both King's
teachings and the unexplainable
power of music. On Friday night,
Janelle Monae hopes to burn this
message of unmatched hope and
limitless opportunity into the
hearts of a new generation of
revolutionaries.
FILM NOTEBOOK
The struggle of being independent
By NOAH DEAN STAHL
DailyArts Writer
In the midst of the self-congrat-
ulatory hoopla of Awards Season
- complete with excessive advertis-
ing campaigns and lavish red car-
pet events - I am embarrassed to
say one of the biggest film events of
the year seemed to sneak up on me.
The Sundance Film Festival, which
starts today, has long been consid-
ered an important benchmark in
the world of independent film, but
it's on unsteady ground due to the
bleak financial climate.
Sundance saw its commercial
emergence in 1989 when a fledg-
ing Miramax Films bought Steven
Soderbergh's "Sex, Lies and Vid-
eotape." The picture's subsequent
commercial success re-defined Sun-
dance as a place where small movies
could go in hopes of attracting major
box office returns.
Inrecentyears,quirkyyetendear-
ing movies like "Napoleon Dyna-
mite" and "Garden State" found
their starts at the festival. In 2006,
Fox Searchlight Pictures paid a
record $10.5 million for "Little Miss
Sunshine," a movie that went on to
remarkable commercial and critical
reception. Since then, Hollywood
has all but uprooted itself these last
weeks of January and transplanted
itself in Utah for Sundance.
As long as I've been interested in
film, I've taken Sundance to be the
beacon of artistic individuality and
cultural importance. The notion.
of finding refuge from the cold in a
quaint western movie house like the
famous Egyptian Theater and watch-
ing new films would be my ideal day.
As I come to learn about the work-
ings of the festival, though, it seems
to hinge less on truly independent,
unique cinematicvoices and more on
the same commercialism and mate-
rialism that drives Hollywood.
While hundreds of films play at
Sundance, very few actually make
it to a theater near you. What these
films and filmmakers rely on for
circulation is distributors making
purchases. In years past, many
independent distributors and stu-
dio specialty labels - divisions of
the largerstudios devoted to small-
er movies and niche markets - hit
the Sundance slopes in search of
their underdogbox office gem. The
number of potential buyers, how-
ever, has slimmed drastically.
In the past year, independent
outfit THINKFilmtook astepback
due to financial instability; Warner
Bros. shut down its Warner Inde-
pendent Pictures and Picturehouse
sectors and drastically scaled back
New Line Cinema; Paramount Pic-
tures, too, reduced its Paramount
Vantage division, a distributor
that had been notably successful
despite the increasingly crowded
market
Jan. 3,1
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ror/con
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uted. A
abilityc
place for small films; and, on as an unprecedented apprehension
Universal Studios announced aboutpicking a dud, Sundance could
of Rogue Pictures, its hor- see its slowest year in some time.
nedy specialty label. Picture a smaller than usual collec-
ailing economy, combined tion of gun-shy executives huddled
he waning presence of dis- together in the cold.
rs willing to gamble on com- At this year's festival, a number
ly limited pictures, means of films look particularly interest-
ing. "Brief Interviews with Hideous
Men,"anadaptationfromDavidFos-
ter Wallace, is written and directed
le film s face a by John Krasinski (Jim, from "The
office"), who also starsinit.Inaddi-
ding m arket. tion, there's "Big Fan," directed by
Robert Siegel, the screenwriter of
"The Wrestler." And there's also the
documentary "I Knew It Was You,"
udiences may not get to see about the tragically short life of
fthe best, if less commercial, acclaimed actor John Cazale. Given
iowcased at Sundance. the climate of the world of indepen-
of the most highly touted dent film, I can only speculate as
the 2008 Festival ("Ballast," to whether any of these films will
ector Lance Hammer and make it to thebigscreen.
" from the duo that made the There's no question - Sundance
ted "Half Nelson") received is still a place where many of the
-no exposure in theaters. best films of a given year are exhib-
n't mean to be a spoilsport, ited. What I've come to under-
I mean to be naive. Of course stand, however, is that Sundance,
vie industry relies on the like many other significant events
les of business just like any in the world of film, is inextricable
eld. Without money, movies from the Hollywood machine. This
cannot be made and distrib- doesn't necessarily ruin the festival
nd with the limited avail- for me. It just isn't the Sundance of
of capital to buy films as well my dreams.
;I
U of M Business & Finance
Annual MLK Convocation
Featuring Les Brown
MondayJanuary 19,2009, 1-3pm
Rackham Auditorium,915 E.Washington-
bes5
Free admission
i