Hey, I know you were thinking about that new
Hello Kitty DS game. Before letting your
Hello Kitty fanboyism get in the way of your better judgement, take this moment to learn something about the game... through song.
This isn't the first video game review
Rebecca Mayes has done as a ditty. Previously, her
Hotel Dusk review garnered her internet stardom. Also, a Christmas song that's called
Press A and is centered around
Wii Sports.Making the most of her 15 minutes in the limelight, Ms. Mayes now accepts donations from those suggesting her next game review. The reviews are freely available in the MP3 format from
Game People.
Here, I present an interview that was performed with Ms. Mayes, and put out as a press release from the Game People website. I didn't conduct this interview, but since it was handed out for me to publish as if I had, feel free to believe that I have a relationship with a gorgeous, talented, video game nerd that is talented enough to sing about Okami. I wont hate you for it.
Rebecca Mayes Hello Kitty Interview
Are your audio gamer songs really reviews or just odes to the games?They're certainly not classic reviews, and neither are they particularly thorough. I wouldn't recommend relying solely on my reviews if you want info on a game, but they are most definitely a critical response.
Calling what I'm doing a review has provoked some discussion about what constitutes a review, and it does depend on what you're looking for. There have been some perturbed voices about what I'm doing certainly.
From what I understand of the gaming community, games are not just games but an interaction with another world that somehow opens up something in the mind of the player. As such gaming is a truly creative experience, and my audiogamer songs are a reflection of the world I experience when I play the game.
Everything about the sound of ‘I'm a wolf,' the Okami song, expresses my interaction with the game. The feel of Okami's pounding feet coming through the controls set the rhythm of the song; the energy of the creature, the magical setting, the mythical element are all being expressed through the instrumentation and feel of the song. It's not all about lyrics for me - they are what come through on a surface level.
Some gamers confessed that ‘The Infuriating and Alluring Case of Mr Kyle Hyde' pulled unexpectedly on the heart-strings, and that's not just the lyrical content, it's the romance of the music itself, the arc of the melody etc.
So you are approaching these reviews primarily as a songwriter?I can't get away from the fact that songwriting is a craft I am deeply enthralled with, and yes I'm as interested in writing good songs as I am in writing good reviews. But essentially I want to create some kind of juicy fusion between the two. This is all new for me and I'm learning as I go along.
Tell us about the next song, Hello KittyI wanted to capture the excitement that is inherent in this game. Whether or not you enjoy the game is in large part down to whether or not you ‘believe' in Kitty's dream of getting her penthouse apartment - without this motivating factor you will not be driven to play the same puzzles repeatedly. That is perhaps why some reviewers have confessed to ‘imagining being a little girl' in order to play the game - or perhaps that is some kind of excuse.
Everything about Hello Kitty's world is pleasant and hopeful and fun. I wanted to capture the element of ‘coming of age' in my song, which is a subject we return to again and again in books and films. In a sense the meta-narrative of the song is that this game is more than it seems - not just a sweet little game to make more money for the Hello Kitty franchise but a demonstration of an important human rite.
