This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
Welcome to the new and improved Bitmob Game Club, where you can play games along with your favorite Bitmob staff and community members and discuss them via the magic of Twitter. We decided to make it easier for everyone to participate, so we got rid of the rigid schedule and writing requirements. We'd like to extend an invitation to all of you to play along with us and share as much or as little as you'd like. Together, we can make this a fun and successful event.
This week, we selected Rez. If you've never played Rez before, you're in for a treat. This seemingly Tron-inspired polygonal on-rails shooter with its continually evolving trance-like beats defies adequate description as often as it wins over critics. If you have previously succumbed to the magic of Rez, please join with us and enjoy it again. If you don't own a copy of the original, you can always download the updated Rez HD on Xbox Live.
But wait, there's more! Check after the jump for an added bonus, available for a limited time only.
To kick-off this new format with a bang, we invited two special guests to play along with us. The first is the incomparable James Mielke who, when I asked him directly, requested that I introduce him as "Head Bee-Keeper of His Royal Persimmon's Benevolent Honey-Tasters." Just in case you're not familiar with James, he is the former editor-in-chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1UP.com. Nowadays, he has the honor of working alongside Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi at Q Entertainment. Our second awesome guest is Matt "We-liked-Rez-so-much-we-named-our-company-after-the-last-level" Chandronait. You may remember Matt as the former producer of the 1UP Show, one of founding members of Area 5, or from his frequent appearances on our own Mobcast.
Right now, you're probably wondering "How can I participate?" To make it easier on you (and us) we created a separate Twitter account for the Bitmob Game Club. Just follow BitmobGC and jump in the conversation whenever you want by sending a reply to @BitmobGC with your Rez experiences. Our original goal was to play one area of the game per day, but feel free to play and discuss Rez whenever you want over the course of the next week. We're interested to hear what you think of this unique title, and we hope to see you there!
James and Matt got a head-start on the first area last night. You might want to check out their tweets regarding combat strategy and some of the game's alternate settings. Here are some highlights from late last night:
From James (Twitter account: jamesmielke):
Area 1 boss tactic: Rapidfire. Lock-on: No. Take down the shielding and green dots with invisible thumb speed. More rhythmic too @bitmobGC
http://twitter.com/jamesmielke/status/17305651732
@talkingorange @BitMobGC My Area 1 stats are currently: Analyzation 100.00% Shot Down 99.21% :( and Support Item 100.00% How bout you?
http://twitter.com/jamesmielke/status/17304802099
From Matt (Twitter account: talkingorange):
@jamesmielke @bitmobgc I disagree on your boss tactic. Holding it down and waving the stick around is a lot better for killing the shield
http://twitter.com/talkingorange/status/17306617853
@jamesmielke @bitmobgc and I like the rhythm of hold->max-lock->release->hold.
http://twitter.com/talkingorange/status/17306671982
From a community participant (Twitter account:pheriannath):
@talkingorange You haven't experienced Rez until you've attached your DC to a monochrome Apple ][ monitor: http://bit.ly/9ILzxQ :-)
http://twitter.com/pheriannath/status/17303024044
@talkingorange You have no idea how happy I was when my Dreamcast didn't destroy that monitor. We also played Duck Hunt on it. ;-)
http://twitter.com/pheriannath/status/17304796496