On the ground floor I can already hear the whistles and the shouts of elated fans.

Basses and drums noises resound throughout the walls. If I shut my eyes for just a second I could almost see tour buses, bodyguards and the usual tee-shirt stand at the entrance of the venue.

It feels like it’s going to be a big day for rock.

As I get closer I can’t mistake the signs. People are walking faster to see what is happening, I hear excited shrieks, instruments are tuned up and voices are warming up.

And then I open the door.

Suddenly I realize that in fact I can only hear loud laughs, whistles and remarks ‘come on now, activate your Star Power Mister!”.

What’s happening?

Is the 1st band so bad the excited crowd is being booed off the stage?
Of course not.
The reality is actually very different. I came face to face with my overexcited colleagues (it can sometimes be your friends or members of your family so beware) playing with the game Rock Band (only available at the moment on xBox). My usually very composed colleagues were getting ready to face the most difficult chords of the History of Rock with the gear needed for a proper Rock concert (that means a set of drums, a guitar and a microphone. You have to add the second guitar if you want to play the bass though instruments from Guitar Hero are compatible).

That is the kind of scene I was confronted with when I came back from lunch. Screeching voices and missed chords (let’s just say the neighbors didn’t really appreciate the moment) while my colleagues were trying to reproduce the rhythms of Muse or Nirvana.

You might think the whole experience is probably better suited for geeks who want a taste of the glamour and rock and roll of the biggest bands they’ve seen on stage. But I have to say that the game is quite fun once you join in (and yes even with the songs you don’t really know… or in German). For example : I even tried to control the vibrato on my guitar while cheering the crowd.
The best is still to join in the fun with some friends.

70 years old.

You were going for a stroll unaware of what was waiting for you around the corner when suddenly a beaming shop assistant thrust towards you a Nintendo DS with the ever so famous Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training program.

You were naïve and innocent. You thought training on NES ten years ago (or 20 years ago to be more precise) would suffice. And it could have… But you never thought you would have to compete against the Doctor’s devious exercises.

And nowadays we can spot you in the Tube or in a restaurant, feverishly writing on your console, trying to decipher the cryptic questions. You’re not going to the gym anymore but you’ve become really good at Sight Training and the Legend of Zelda holds no secret to you.

You’ve offered a DS to your mother. She used to associate console with the words Game Boy and she can’t even start the DVD player but now she’s learning French and having fun with her Cooking Mama game. Your nephew clearly prefers Mario Kart DS to his homework but you’re hoping that Professor Kageyama’s Math Training will get him back on tracks.

The PSP could be a nice companion to your husband now that you spend all your time with your DS. He could use it in the train as well. So you’re buying him one for Christmas. At first you were clearly afraid of this extra-real car races when driving in town is so complicated. But you’re PSP-fluent now. You can charge MP4 and transfer your documents with dexterity.

To sum it up we can say that you forgot all about the tabloids, that you are the official DS Master and that train journey seem almost too short because you have no time to finish Level 55. The world is definitely upside down !

More infos :
-> Nintendo DS
-> PSP