2003 – Tokyo Rose – Reinventing a Lost Art

I remember liking this band “back in the day” – and when I was just 19 I had a chance to see them at the Warped Tour. I was blown away by just how much fun the band members looked like they were having. I’d heard a song or two of theirs, but didn’t know just how much I would really enjoy their whole album, at the time. Once I listened to it, beginning to end, I was hooked.

Reinventing a Lost Art was Tokyo Rose’s first “full length” album, and came out when Emo was reaching full force. This is more of the classic “pop-punk” / Post-Hardcore genre we’ve come to appreciate, with some talented vocals over top of quick drums and upbeat guitar riffs. You can’t help but enjoy this album, and they start out the album with a song that gets you in the mood for fun.

Saturday, Everyday, the opening track, begins this chorus with Tokyo Rose’s call for a good time: “So when we rule the world / we’ll put it up to a vote / to make another day / one more like Saturday…” Another track, Weapon of Choice plays off of the old phrase coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” “Enclosed is my weapon of choice,” they sing, as they recall writing letters to friends, family, and significant others as the band toured trying to make it.

You might think I want you to buy the 2007 Tokyo Rose album, Promise in Compromise, because I was one of the early pre-orders who got the select honor of finding our names printed inside the sleeve… cool, yes, but if I really ever expect you to listen to that album, I need to get you hooked on the band first. And to do that? We’ve got to start with Reinventing a Lost Art, the album that really sucked me in and made me a fan of Tokyo Rose.

How to get Open NAT type on Xbox Live

The unfortunate truth about NAT type is that sometimes it is out of your hands. If you’re on a network that you didn’t set up, like some apartment buildings or dorms, it may be hard to resolve. But if this is your home internet connection, you can most likely resolve your issues by logging in to your router and enabling UPnP. The steps for doing this on every router are a little different, but it’s usually fairly simple to find.

Along the same lines, many newer routers also feature an option called teredo tunneling. Enabling that may also resolve your issue.

But Xbox 360 users, fear not! If you’re still having problems after you enable UPnP and teredo tunneling, Microsoft hasn’t given up on you. They suggest some ports you can open as well as other tips to get “NAT type Open” on your connection to Xbox Live.

This became such a huge problem, that Microsoft presented a PowerPoint discussing the issue at Gamesfest 2010, which you can download from Microsoft.com.

Gaming in Windows 8 Part 3: new games, Adera and Taptiles

Two new official Xbox Live-enabled games made their way to the Windows 8 Store recently. However, just like the first round of games, it seems that “more is to come” with an update to each of them. The first one, which should see many updates in the future, is a point and click adventure game (I guess nowadays it would just be a “tap adventure”), which Microsoft has already stated will be episodic in style. Adera tells the story of a female archeologist, who has been in a helicopter crash and needs to regain her bearings before heading off on an adventure… evidently to find a sorcerer’s magical crystal ball. At least, that’s what I gleaned from the cinematic intro. Somebody tell me I’m not the only one here who is having flashbacks to Museum Madness.

It seems to be only a trial version of the game, not even a complete first “episode” of Adera. But, the good news for Xbox junkies like me: the Achievements are live! Most of them, anyway. So go grab yourself a little bit of free Gamerscore from Windows 8. The game itself is quite appealing to look at, mostly still, but the little flourishes of 3D Acceleration make it eye catching.

Next up is Taptiles. This is a Mahjong style game, with the twist being that the puzzle board is a free standing 3-dimensional object which can be rotated. With multiple game types included, I started with “Dash” which is a timed game, where completing a level partially refills an ever dwindling clock. Another mode called Origins is a more traditional type of Mahjong game, and other game types indicate that they’re “coming soon.”

Stay tuned to our ongoing series of posts on Windows 8, and we’ll be sure to let you know when more Xbox Live games make their way to Windows 8.