Weezer just released an 8-bit video game, called End Of The Game, which is a computer game ode to the boss levels are that are notoriously impossible to beat. Those interested in checking out the game, can play here. This isn’t Weezer’s first time joining the gaming world, last year they promoted the Black Album by inserting ‘Weezer World’ into Fortnite. The band is also getting ready to release their upcoming album, Van Weezer on May 15, and the song, “End of The Game” will be included. For the video game, Weezer teamed up with Jason Oda (Waking, Perfect Strangers Game, The Emo Game) to create this little bit of 8-bit alien awesomeness.
Oda is responsible for other music-adjacent works like Emogame and Skrillex Quest. According to a statement, the new video game is an “ode to the boss levels that are notoriously impossible to beat” in ’80s and ’90s games like Street Fighter II, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Punch Out. As such, after picking your player, one of the four members of Weezer, you are then transported through all 100 levels of the game in a flash before facing off against the final boss, a giant alien. While the alien is beatable, it turns out the actual final boss is the walk across a booby trap-filled path to a treasure chest that’s impossible to reach.
The End of the Game also presents an interesting bid at viral advertising in music, amid the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the entertainment industry. Sony recently revealed that the music side of their business is undergoing significant disruptions, due to factors like release delays and concert cancelations. However, the company reported that its gaming section would experience “no material impact on this business for the current fiscal year.” (Van Weezer will release under Crush / Atlantic.)
Last year, Weezer dropped two self-titled albums, the Teal Album and Black Album. At the moment, it appears that their Hella Mega Tour with Green Day and Fall Out Boy will still kick off this summer, but it remains to be seen how coronavirus concerns will affect future concert dates. Weezer has been putting out great hits, since the ’90s with infamous songs like “Hash Pipe”, “Sweater”, “Buddy Holly” and “Island In the Sun” to name a few.
At Coachella last year, the band surprised concertgoers with the cover of TLC’s song, “No Scrubs” when Chili from TLC suddenly arrived onstage to join the band. In an mxdwn.com article, the situation was described, “As lead singer guitarist Rivers Cuomo started chopping through the song’s kiss-off lines a female voice started singing along. The band played it as if they didn’t know what was happening but then Chili appeared stage left as the mystery singer.”
Photo Credit: Bret Padelford
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