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Congrats to mondo84 on winning the random draw!

I am spent and lazy and I can't think of anything creative, but with all this holiday cheer being spread around these forums, I wanted to hold another giveaway.
I recently fell in love with this gem of a game called Two Brothers and wanted to give away a copy.

Prize: Two Brothers (Steam)

Rules for Entry:
1) Have at least 30 rep, or an account created before November 2013
2) Answer the two questions below

Entry Questions:
1) What are two songs that are close to your heart, and why? (It could be an appreciation for the song itself, the memories the song conjures up,etc.) Link to VIDS OF THE SONGS if possible.

2) What two novels would you most like to see made into video games, and why? (It could be the potential for great gameplay, the power of the story, etc.)

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To keep with the "number two" theme, I may possibly give away a second copy, if there is enough interest (and if my wallet allows it.)

I'll keep this open for a few days, maybe a week or so. Winner (or winners) will receive key(s) via PM when the giveaway closes.
Post edited December 13, 2013 by akhliber
1.
NOFX - The Decline. The song is just 'epic', it's a roughly 20 minute-long punk song. It was also amazing to see them perform it live.
Weird Al Yankovic - Albuquerque. Another long one. I remember I used to love the shit out of this back in the day. I also remember sitting in my friend's car and listening to it and just singing along.

2.
1984 - I'm genuinely surprised that there's not a 1984 game already. I suppose it'd probably be something like what Watch_Dogs will be like, but still, it would be cool to have a legitimate 1984 game. Also, depending on how you play the game and the choices you make, you'll end up with your own personalised Room 101.
Cool School - Your question made me think of Choose Your Own Adventure books. This isn't exactly a CYOA book, but it's something similar that I remember reading in school and it would be perfect for video game format - especially if the game had a visual style like the cover.
Post edited December 10, 2013 by Austrobogulator
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akhliber: Entry Questions:
1) What are two songs that are close to your heart, and why? (It could be an appreciate for the song itself, the memories the song conjures up,etc.) Link to VIDS OF THE SONGS if possible.
Two songs that are close to my heart are Hilary Duff's So Yesterday and JoJo's Leave, because these were the songs that helped me through my breakup, belting them out at karaoke with friends. They're pretty easy to sing too, even for a dude, and since they're from the early 2000s, they're almost always available in the karaoke song machine.
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akhliber: 2) What two novels would you most like to see made into video games, and why? (It could be the potential for great gameplay, the power of the story, etc.)
My two favorite series of novels are the Book of the New Sun (fantasy) and Hyperion (SF), and as far as I know, nobody has ever tried to adapt any of these into another medium because the narratives are so literary and complex, but their settings are so rich and interesting that its amazing that it hasn't been done yet. There's so much potential.
Thanks for the giveaway :)

1-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZS3t6MkiCw This one from Narnia. Because it's a song I heard when the life was simple,for me. I'm very attached to my family and my brother, but now...there are some problems. When I heard this song for the first time, with the two brothers (and the two sisters) preparing for the battle, it was a good moment. Not for the battle itself, of course, but because it shows you the love among brothers. I know, may people hate this movie, but I love it for different reasons from "battle, witches etc".

2-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6miaTf1gF4g This one is from MGS. When I was a kid I heard and I liked, nothing more. Years ago, when I heard it during the Shadow Moses mission on MGS4, I realized that I became old, just like Snake. Many years has passed, and the original Shadow Moses is just like a memory in my mind.

2. As for the novels, I really want to see a videogame adaptations of La Divina Commedia, by Dante.
It has so much good material, that could become a masterpiece (and no, Dante's Inferno isn't a good adaptation). Second, I want to see a Shining survival horror, it could be great :D
Good to hear positive things about that game, since feedback for games like that is obviously hard to come by. I took interest in it after seeing screenshots and the video of it, I really like the graphics style, "retro" done right if you ask me. Now to this...

AGH the first question is so hard. I have a ton of songs that resonate with me strongly, but perhaps I'll go with these two:

ICE AGES - "Trapped and Scared" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThZrG8n33YM#t=1938

This act is actually a side project of one of the members of Summoning, Tolkien-themed black metal group driven by lush keyboard arrangements meant to invoke landscapes and histories of Middle-Earth. Some of the most otherworldly music around, I'd say Summoning may be among my favorite groups, if not my absolute favorite. Now the song above actually was reworked by Summoning as the song "Over Old Hills" on their album Dol Guldur. You can hear that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl60kjN8NoA

I'm gonna have to go with the original on this one. The odd mix of vocal styles on the reworked track (that croaky, low-pitched throaty voice and the robot [?] vocals) don't work as well for me as the voice on the Ice Ages version, and the lyrics (different for both songs) I think are more befitting the original, as are the less busy, ambient/EBM sounds than the guitar-backed, vaguely fantasy-like synths on the remake. The emotional resonance is just greater for me. "Over Old Hills" is still a very good song, but probably the weakest overall on that album, all things considered, especially after having heard the original. Next up,

TANGERINE DREAM - "Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8J2doVjui4

I'm gonna be honest and say that I don't know if it'd be as powerful as it is to me without the title of the song. It'd still be a great song, but titles give music context and make you perceive it with a slightly different perspective (which is why I really despise the modern trend among indie electronic/ambient musicians to give their songs "wacky" titles like "Pissfuckers on a Bucket in a Hippo's Ass" or [song title that's like 27 words long and completely nonsensical] or something, quit trying to be cute and ironic, you're neither, you're just irritating). The title could've randomly been thrown together for all I care, it still was a great choice of a title and gives the song a great personal meaning for me. I myself deal with recurring nightmares, less "monsters and blood and a nuclear holocaust as I'm falling without my pants on" kind, though I've had my share of those, and more outwardly mundane stuff than nonetheless is a torment to experience in my head. Things from my past life that feel as if unresolved, and no way to resolve them. This song, without any lyrics, just a wonderful Mellotron melody and a lot of spacey effects, feels like a "mythologizing" of the commonly shared torment of the human race we call "nightmares" and gives it an essence we can confront and speculate on. As though a "Nightmare" were a place than a state of mind, and this "Mysterious Semblance" whatever it may be, is responsible, but remains that, mysterious. It's like being on a windy edge of a cliff reaching into space, powerful winds strewn about, as a black cloaked silhouette stands there, watching my labored ascent. I beg for answers. My questions are only responded with silence. I grow indignant, its silence remains. I grow frustrated, weary, then I'm brought to my knees. Then I cannot help but cry, and cry out begging for answers. The Semblance continues its silence, the winds growing stronger. Then in a flash, it all ends. This is what this track does for me. I hope I've provided explanation enough :)

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BOOKS NOW:

Blood Meridian or: The Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy. Because, 1) It's probably my favorite book of all time (granted I am not exactly the most prolific reader out there). 2) The idea of a Cormac McCarthy novel being turned into a game is such a fascinating prospect. 3) The idea of turning THIS book into a game would be wrong yet amazing on so many levels, and a developer not only willing to pull it off but do so successfully would be an astonishing thing to see. 4) The planned movie adaptation is currently in limbo, since nobody with money has the balls to fund it without neutering the story completely, but a small video game studio may have the resources to do something with it. It'd obviously have to be released as freeware, as I highly doubt any rights would be legally given out to any game studio anywhere, but still, a freeware title, even if it'd have to be done as a game mod (and some amazing mods that work as standalone games have been made out there) is still feasible. I have not a fucking clue what genre of game would actually work with this, as its plot and characters are completely secondary to its prose, imagery, concepts, and the vast and unsavory portrait it paints of the human condition, but I do know that for it to work the devs would have to be OK with the idea of making you essentially a completely unsympathetic protagonist. I'd also be curious as to how Judge Holden would be worked into the gameplay. All I know is I'd hope it'd be something besides an on-rails visual novel of some kind, which would be the easy way to do it, but the least interesting. NEXT...

Finnegans Wake - by James Joyce. Because WHY THE FUCK NOT. Make it a text parser-based adventure game just to further drive players up the walls and out of their mind.
Music doesn't really stay stable with me, my tastes keep moving. But at least in terms of the last couple of years, these two choices I think work. I'm not sure it works so well listening to them one after another though :D.

The first is a traditional irish jig, recorded awesomely by Solas. Gentle and uplifting in a way that makes me want to head off to the plains and set off on an adventure.
The Ballerina Jig

This second one is an OCRemix that is pretty uplifting as well, but not so gentle. Makes me want to uppercut all evil in the world.
The Ballad of Sir Kibbles

As for novels that would make good games, two come to mind:

One would be Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Would work really well as a game, where you can switch between Johnathan Strange, the younger, more active livelier person, and Mr. Norrell, the more scholarly magician. They'd have different spells and magic, with the story finally culminating with them...well, no need to spoil it :D.

Another novel that I thought would make a good game would be Michael Crichton's Timeline. It involves people from the modern time (well, 1999 :P) going back to the 14th century, what with all the knights and castles and stuff. It might be that I'm just a sucker for time travel stories and games, but then using modern ideas and technologies to be almost like a superhuman in the past- along with then the problem of possibly being singled out as a witch or warlock- Seems a fun idea.
Not in, but thanks.
Not in, but nice giveaway and good questions akhliber! +1
Thanks for the giveaway, here is my entry.

1.
Tommy James and the Shondells - Crimson and Clover -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfeCgMo-Kao

My first "love" song.

Elvis - Hound dog -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MnmIVBSZYM

This song brings back great memories of my child hood. When I was a kid my dad would take me to the movies on Sunday's (my parents were divorced and I only got to spend the weekends with him) and after the movie we'd go to an old fashion diner place and get a float or something as a treat. They had a jukebox (a full size one, not the little table one) and I'd always ask for a quarter so I could play this song. I just loved this song for some reason.

2.
Elric of Melnibone saga.

One of the most epic fantasy stories. Would have great potential for a good rpg game similar to the Witcher.


Lord of the flies -

I can't be the only one that thinks this would make an excellent game. Imagine it developed similar to State of decay, where you lead a group of people and have to find supplies/survive).

Have lots of choices/conseoquences with characters that you get to know more and more as you play and with their own viewpoints that can conflict with yours and others.
Not in, but +1 for the giveaway mate!
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DeMignon: Not in, but nice giveaway and good questions akhliber! +1
This. ↑↑↑
Not in, but thank you for the interesting giveaway akhliber! +1
Thank you for the giveaway, akhliber, and also thank you for the intriguing entry requirements. I get the feeling that I'm going to discover some very engaging titles! +1

Not in!
You ask the impossible to pick just 2 songs, it is very hard.
I typed up a huge post... decided to delete all but 2 songs after all: (besides that one song I humm but can't remember where its from!)

The two songs that stuck with me are:
don't make fun of me, but I often hum Indiana Jones main theme song.
and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: "Song of Storms"

Just wrong to pick 2 songs :(.

As for novels into games, I know there have been Star Trek games before, but I want good one where I can "Explore" and send out an away team to survey planets and stuff.... not the constant ship battle sims that are out.
I feel same way about Stargate: SG1, they could of had a good game where every account had a planet they could customize for people to visit/quest at.

movie/novels I wish were un-made: all twilight movies...
what a great idea for a giveaway - might have to pinch the idea! Would you mind if i enter? - feel free to say no, ive had a VERY lucky few weeks!
I have to agree with everyone else its really hard to narrow them down to two!

1) Songs: P!nk - Fucking Perfect, P!nk - Glitter In The Air. (i have many more! its painful to miss those off of the list) - Both mean a lot to me and hold very special memories for me.

2) Novels:
ironically like gbaz69 before me they really need to finish Stargate SG-1: The Alliance, or just make a new game from scratch! the series is crying out for some awesome gaming moments, and frankly i miss my SG! That series got me through some tough times and it would be awesome to be able to have that experience again.

Id like to say some of the Halo books ive read would make awesome games however i think you would feel that would be cheating as Halo games already exist. so id have to go with my old fav - the Tweed and Paula Gray books from Colin Forbes that level of detail and old fashioned Spy Novels (if done correctly) would translate brilliantly into the gaming universe!
Post edited December 11, 2013 by chezybezy