Friday, March 3, 2017

Top 10 Songs about Games and Gaming

Congratulations to me! This is my one hundredth post! I had to go with something big. I couldn't decide what to do. I mean, I could do another book or movie review, but that's what I ALWAYS do. That didn't appeal. I could have come up with some kind of long ass post talking about how great I am (true) and how awesome all of the authors who have submitted their work for review are (still true) but I'm just not that type. So, what to do? Well, when I started this blog, I listed some things that I considered to be SF/F. Books and movies were givens. I also listed comics and gaming. I haven't done much with either, other than to list them as part of the Dragon Award lineup.My comic budget is pretty anemic though, and the last game I bought was World of Warcraft: Legion. It's the best expansion yet, but that's not what I wanted to do either.

Then I thought about it. Okay, what really happened was that I accidentally clicked on the Youtube app on my phone when what I wanted was Yahoo, but nobody's perfect. That's when I saw the video to my favorite song about a game and thought to myself, "I should do a post about the best songs about games." So now you're all stuck reading about it. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

First off the disclaimer: No, I had no involvement in producing any of this. No, I'm not going to spend days posting all of the relevant information. Each song will include a link. If you're interested in finding out who produced any or all of this stuff, feel free to click on the appropriate link(s) and get your information there. And without further ado...

Number 10: Natural 20

Musically this track is just there. It's got the guitar riffs and Mikey Mason has the voice to carry it. Let's face it though. The charm of this track isn't just that. If you've ever sat down at a table and played a pen and paper RPG then you know why the phrase "natural (or nat) twenty" would bring a smile to any player's face. If not don't bother asking. Just go to the hobby shop and pick up a book and some dice. Now. I'll wait.



Number 9: If I Had a Billion Platinum

First off, I've been a Weird Al fan since the Eighties. I love parodies! Second off, I love The Bare Naked Ladies. Third off, when I was a broke ass n00b in Everquest, I found this track on Youtube. It was one of the earliest gaming songs on the internet. And besides, who doesn't want all the Kunark loot? (Well, other than anyone who played starting with Scars of Velious or later.)



Number 8: Hard Like Heroic

World of Warcraft. Music parody. Double entendres. What else do you want? How about some hysterically funny video footage? Seriously. Go "Do it like a druid in the general channel." If you don't know what I'm talking about, find out. This is awesome.



Number 7: Just Loot It

Gear and gold. That's what MMORPGs are all about. Oh, and when you're from Detroit, the only thing better than a gaming parody is a gaming parody of an Eminem track. If it's not obvious enough, this was inspired by Just Lose It. That's just another reason to love this one. Raiding +  Detroit hip hop = win.

 


Number 6: Crank that Druid Boy


When I first started playing WoW I wouldn't participate in Player versus Player content. No, not ever. I played on a player versus environment server, I didn't do PvP quests. I didn't do battlegrounds or arenas. I wouldn't touch it. Then I saw this video. That night I logged in and figured out how to queue for battlegrounds. The song itself is good but what really makes this video is the PvP content in the video. You've got to check this out. Then you've got to go pwn some n00bs and cap a flag.


Number 5: End of the World (of Warcraft)

I almost didn't put this on here because it's too catchy. On one hand, that's a good thing. Things don't get stuck in your head unless they're good. On the other hand, I'm going to be hearing this song in my head for for the next two weeks. Oh, and since this is a parody of The End of the World as We Know It I want to watch Deep Impact now too. There's nothing quite like mixing the images of Orgrimmar and Morgan Freeman to really make your brain tingle. Ouch.

 


Now comes the hard part. I don't wanna have to slot these last four! I don't wanna! Good Lord. I guess I'll do it. Gimme a sec to figure this out.

Number 4: Uhhhh.... Game On

Picture this with me. You're sitting in your girlfriend's bed. She says she doesn't feel like gaming. It's your girlfriends bed. It's Tuesday night. Raids just reset. It's your girlfriend's bed. The solution to the problem is obvious: Call out a bunch of Bollywood dancers to dance around the room and convince her to jump in Vent for the raid. That's really the only viable solution. You can't let The Guild down right? Oh and, if my girlfriend didn't read this blog, I might be tempted to point out that any video with Felicia Day in it is probably going to be fun to watch.


Number 3: Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?

Yes, two of my top four videos are from The Guild. Sue me. It's another video featuring Felicia Day.We get to see quite a bit of Amy Okuda too. It doesn't get any better than an online relationship with a girl when you don't even know what she actually looks like. I've seen crap like this happen and it cracks me up. The fact that someone made a video about it just makes it even more funny. Just be careful with the winkies in guildchat. Oh, and yes I'm a fanboy of The Guild. That makes sense though. There are three types of people in the world: MMO players who love The Guild. Non-MMO players love The Guild and non-MMO players who don't love The Guild. That completes the list. If you don't love The Guild, you're not a true MMO player. Period. I almost had three videos from The Guild on the list, but then I realized Now I'm the One that's Cool isn't about gaming even if the show is.



Ready for the top two? I'll guarantee this is going to piss a few people off. Some of you out there only consider all "gaming" to involve video games and both of the top two are from table top RPGs. Here we go...

Number 2: Roll a D6

No it's not Like a G6 it's Roll a D6. If you don't know what they're talking about you've never done any tabletop RPG playing. The video is epic. The lyrics are on point. Anyone who has played can identify with what they're talking about in the song. Ignore the comments on this one. It's a song people, not a documentary. Some of the details are a bit off, but who gives a rat's ass? Not this guy.


Number 1: Best Game Ever (A Different D&D Song)

Mikey Mason FTW!!!!! This one will take you back if you're a pen and paper RPG player. You know that one dumb-ass you used to game with? The one that got killed every damn week and pissed everyone off? Remember all of the horrible shit you wanted to do to him? This is a song all about doing it. It's hysterically funny. It's so well performed. The emotion Mason shows singing this song is something I've only really seen from Jack Black before. Spoiler: They beat the dragon at the end. I started thinking about doing this post a few days ago. I've watched this video eight times today. It's playing right now. After all, once you've "Saved a barmaid, slayed a dragon, got some treasure, raised a flagon and we split up some XP" (yeah, I
plagiarized that part) does it get any better? Not in my book. Go. Watch it. Love it. Buy it. It's worth it. I wish I had a prize to send him. Thanks Mikey! I enjoyed it. Oh, and you bookended the list. That's worth something, right? Oh, and his bookshelf is epic.






Some products related to the songs above are available at the links below: