Best of GameSetWatch: From REO Speedwagon to Rock Band Network

[Gamasutra highlights a week's worth of alternative video gaming news, media, and other curiosities from sister blog GameSetWatch, as written by editor Eric Caoili.] This round-up brings news on a pin-up calendar inspired by the Ultima series, libraries across the country celebrating National Gaming Day this Saturday, and an OutRun arcade cabinet turned into a drivable car. Other highlights include a look at companies that've sprouted up to help bands and record labels convert their songs into playable Rock Band Network tracks, and an REO Speedwagon hidden object game that features the group's power ballads in its soundtrack. This past week's top stories: - Companies Sprout Up To Fulfill Artists' Rock Band Network Needs "And at least two professional/semi-professional companies have set up with the intention of helping bands turn their songs into a playable track for the Rock Band Network, one of which is RockGamer Studios, a group made up of veteran game developers that were formally trained by Harmonix in the conversion process." - Can't Fight This Hidden Object Genre Anymore: REO Speedwagon Game Revealed "Not to be outdone by bands like Aerosmith and Van Halen that've cashed in on the popularity of music games, '80s rock group REO Speedwagon partnered with North Carolina developer Curious Sense to create a game in its likeness, though don't expect to grip a guitar controller while playing this one." - Mystik: Ultima-inspired Pinup Calendar "With approval from series creator Richard 'Lord British' Garriott, Enrico Ricciardi shot and produced a 2010 pinup calendar filled with women presented in Ultima-inspired scenes and dressed in impractical fantasy-themed outfits." - Aquaria Two-Disc Soundtrack, Pajama Jam Coming "Aquaria, the 2007 IGF Grand Prize winning indie game from Bit Blot (Derek Yu of Mossmouth, and Alec Holowka of Infinite Ammo), will receive an official two-disc soundtrack this weekend. " - Freeq Brings Interactive Radio Drama To iPhone "The game features "almost no visual component" but enables you to tilt, shake, touch, and use the GPS capabilities of the iPhone as knobs on a radio that can tune into conversations from the future." - OutRun Project Transforms Arcade Cabinet Into Drivable Car "Garnet Hertz's OutRun project seeks to combine the real world with Sega's seminal racing game by converting the 1986 sit-down arcade cabinet, which was modeled after a 1984 Ferrari Testarossa, into a small, drivable car with a max speed of 20 miles per hour." - Libraries Celebrating National Gaming Day On Nov. 14 "The American Library Association will celebrate its second annual National Gaming Day on November 14th at hundreds of public, school, and academic libraries across the country, inviting others to visit their locations and take part in gaming activities, including a national video game tournament."