Start Press: The Spirit of Radio
The story is already legend. On October 30th, 1938, listeners who tuned in to hear CBS Radio’s regular broadcast of Mercury Theatre on the Air were whipped into a frenzy by a series of increasingly calamitous news bulletins chronicling a Martian invasion of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. At that moment in history when Orson Welles staged his now-infamous radio drama War of the Worlds, the run-up to World War II was already in motion. The American public might as well have been collectively listening to the cadence of a wooden roller coaster clack-clacking inexorably toward the first of many stomach-turning... read more
The Best Albums, Movies, TV & More From the 2000s
When this decade began, Paste’s website was barely a year old, and the magazine was still a twinkle in its daddies’ eyes. So looking back over the first 10 years of the 2000s feels like looking back over our own history. There hasn’t been a new album, film, TV show, video game or book Paste has covered that wasn’t eligible for our “Best of the Decade” consideration. We had dozens of critics vote in each of these five categories, and then we argued some more until we’d focused our spotlight onto the very best pop culture created during the aughts—whether... read more
Start Press: Lost In Space
Lately it’s been getting dark around five o’clock in the evening. Ireland is situated far enough north that it won’t be long before the daylight—notice I said ‘daylight’ and not ‘sunshine’—will fizzle out each afternoon around 3:30pm. I like to imagine that the sun has gotten sick of its job and begun showing up late to work, slipping out the backdoor early. I don’t mind the shorter days. Nighttime amplifies the comfort of your domestic environs. Like when you’re watching a stage play with an elaborate set and all the lights fade to black except for one spotlight trained on... read more
Catching Up With... DJ Hero Producer Will Townsend
Will Townsend has the job that countless twentysomething dudes could only dream of: He gets paid—and well—to play video games. Townsend is the producer of DJ Hero, the newest incarnation of the Guitar Hero series, which hits shelves Tuesday (Oct. 27). Clad in black-rimmed glasses, a black t-shirt and a Yankees hat, Townsend looked a lot like his clientele when he sat down with Paste recently at the Xbox 360 DJ Hero premiere party in Atlanta. Over the blare of party-goers diving into the new game, Townsend told us about putting the game together, the power of video games and... read more
Start Press: If I Could Turn Back Time
In the past I’ve tended to avoid racing games that strive for a realistic simulation of the driving experience. As far as I was concerned, the brake pedal existed for morning commuter traffic, not virtual speed-demon fantasies. I could abide the handbrake, but only because it allowed you to go drifting around bends, tires screeching like a pack of bloodthirsty harpies on the attack. But it felt wrong that a game would require you to slow down in order to be successful. Inevitably I’d spend a few minutes skidding off the track and spinning my tires in the sand or... read more
How DJ Hero is Changing Music Forever
Video may have killed the radio star back in those dark and desperate times known as the '80s, but... read more
Start Press: The High-Score Scourge
Videogames are fun. This is not breaking news. When we play games, we’re transported to different worlds and set free to explore. When we play games, the clock’s minute hand slows, blurs and then disappears entirely. Our brains are tickled, challenged to solve the puzzles and master the challenges presented to us by the game’s developers. There’s nearly unlimited potential for rhapsodic pleasure in a well-designed game. But lately I’ve been swearing at my games with unusual frequency, spitting out combinations of expletives that, to borrow the words of author Anne Lamott, would “make Jesus want to drink gin straight... read more
Best of What's Next 2009: Daniel Benmergui [Game Developer]
Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina Games: Today I Die, Storytelling, I Wish I Were the Moon For Fans Of: Atari 2600, Magnetic Poetry, Jason Rohrer... read more
Best of What's Next 2009: Jani Kahrama (Secret Exit) [Game Developer]
Hometown: Helsinki, Finland Game: Zen Bound For Fans Of: Yoga, Finnish electronica, Origami... read more
Best of What's Next 2009: Tim Schafer (Double Fine) [Game Developer]
Hometown: San FranciscoGames: Brütal Legend, Grim Fandango, PsychonautsFor Fans of: Mötorhead, Erik Wolpaw, Evil Dead 2... read more
Nathan Fouts Misses His Wife
Remember that flannel-wearing loner from high-school algebra class? The one who never paid attention, and who staved off boredom by doodling elaborate comic-art illustrations... read more
The Paste 7 - February 09
Our favorite entertaining bits of whatever.... read more
Signs of Life 2008: Best Games
Check out Paste's top 10 video games of 2008... read more
The Best Music, Movies, TV Shows, Books and Games of 2008
Let’s be frank: any best-of list says more about the people who assembled it than it does about a particular year... read more
Life, the Universe and Everything: Spore Walks a Tightrope Between Creationism and Evolution
Will Wright makes God games—simulations that give players the power to create the world in their own... read more
Takehiro Ando Gives Music a Fighting Chance
If you need advice on how to get paid for obsessing over the things you love most in the world, you might start by consulting with Japanese video-game designer Takehiro Ando... read more
Playing With Gunfire: A Report on the Military-Video-Game Complex
In Capcom’s 1985 coin-op smash, Commando, you fire white pellets at endless streams of generic enemies. When hit, they simply vanish, leaving no trace on the stylized tropical environments behind them. In real war... read more
James Silva: From Dish-Pit Shame to XBox's Next Hit Game
The most buzzed-about indie game developer of the moment, James Silva, rarely gets to leave his bedroom—only because it doubles as his office and laboratory. The room is packed with computers, a television and two desks... read more
Diary of a Video Game RPG Hero
I awoke on the shore with no memory. A great, glowing light appeared and spoke to me: YOUR VILLAGE HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY AN ANCIENT MALEVOLENCE. YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD AND YOUR LOVE INTEREST OF VAGUE ROYAL LINEAGE IS MISSING...” read more
History Channeled
In the late 1990s, when Steven Spielberg began working on World War II shooter Medal Of Honor, he and the game’s developer, Dreamworks Interactive, contracted veteran Marine captain Dale Dye—who’d also consulted on Saving Private Ryan—to make sure the game was historically accurate. But while finding someone so knowledgeable about World War II is relatively easy (Tom Brokaw probably has a couple of Greatest Generation vets chilling in his living room this very second), locating someone well versed in the Third Crusade—which occurred from 1189 to 1192 A.D.—is somewhat trickier. read more
Top 10 Best Debut Novels of the…
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Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
