We’ve spoken to G.O.D. in the past here at OSV in our search for video game music enlightenment. The unification of several game music legends and talents was probably the single most interesting piece of news to come out of 2009 and as we discussed in our interview, the future plans was everything from talent representation to original music albums. At Comiket 78 we’ll be seeing the first fruit of those plans.
GEONDAN Rare Tracks Ver. 1.0 will be an original album with tracks emulating familiar game soundtracks. What makes this CD so pants droppingly awesome is the lineup. Across the 21 tracks you’ll find names like Kinuyo Yamashita (Castlevania), Kohta Takahashi (Klonoa), Akari Kaida (Breath of Fire 3), Soyo Oka (Super Mario Kart) Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana) and the man in charge; Yuji TECHNouchi (X-Men Arcade). And that’s not even half the lineup! Looks to be the holy grail of game music in 2010.
Be sure to check back for review after release and look for my Comiket 78 preview in the next following weeks!
“If Raynor can seem to pull his revolver a little faster, or if Tychus Finlay’s presence can feel more imposing due to a theme or flourish in the music, then the composers and musicians have truly called down the thunder.” – Russell Brower
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, arguably the most anticipated game of the year, arrived in stores and digital download this week and ActiBlizzard/Blizzardvision is sure to have another monster success on its hands. Although it is quite in fashion to bash the gaming evil empire, I must say that the treatment the soundtrack has received is exceptional from all fronts. The production values, sound quality, and iTunes LP treatment (digital liner notes with videos, track descriptions, etc.) are all top-notch and make the listening experience truly an experience. A tremendous amount of dramatic energy is added to the tracks as a summary of the contextual inspiration for the tracks is presented for each track.
But, even with all the pomp and circumstance of a wonderful presentation, a soundtrack is not much without quality music. So, do Russell Brower, Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, Neil Acree, an co. deliver us with a soundtrack of rich minerals? Or has it come and gone like a bad case of Vespene gas? Read on as we conquer the galaxy! (more…)
R-Type has seen many releases over the years on various systems and reached legendary status in the shmups genre. While in the US and Japan it is probably more remembered by its arcade or Super NES sequel, here in Europe we are more familiar with the Commodore 64 and Amiga versions of the game. That’s not only because those systems had a higher market share here mind you, one of the reasons why it was so popular was because it featured music by non other than Chris Hülsbeck. Now EA Mobile and DotEmu will bring back R-Type to the Iphone and with it they are bringing Hülsbeck back to work on the title 20 years later.
A developer at DotEmu, who is in charge of porting the game, remembered Hülsbeck’s excellent work on the classic game and suggested bringing him aboard. Thanks to that suggestion the game will feature a brand new title theme composed specifically for the Iphone port. It’s scheduled for release very soon so keep your eyes on the App store. It’ll be a glorious feeling to travel back to my childhood once again where I was in the basement playing Amiga while my parents thought I was sleeping.
While we already told you all about our time at Distant Worlds during Comic Con, there were, in fact, two concerts for fans to attend. The Video Games Live performance took place on Saturday night at the San Diego Civic Center, just one block away from a massive Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube concert. Quite the clash in concert goers that evening, for sure.
So what is this “Bonus Round” business all about? As Tommy Tallarico explained during the show, this was Video Games Live’s third stop in San Diego during Comic Con, and this show in particular not only had a huge number of composers and industry guests in attendance, but also saw many of these guests come on stage to either introduce, perform, or conduct their music. There were also two world premieres at the show, making it even more special.
Hit the jump to find out what was played and what we thought. (more…)
Rockstar San Diego has put together a fantastic little video about the making of the soundtrack to Red Dead Redemption. It provides some wonderful insight into the instrumentation as well as the implementation of the interactive soundtrack. Using a myriad of stems rooted in A minor and at 130 beats per minute. As well as the interactive soundtrack is used in Red Dead Redemption, it is far from the first game to do so.
I reviewed the score a few months ago and found it very competent but not at the level of the Western greats. All in all, it is spectacular to see the lengths Rockstar went to make the score so integral to the game and it truly paid off.
We were shocked (and delighted) to hear that INTRADA Records had decided to release Vince DiCola’s score for Rocky IV back in May. While the film received an official soundtrack release back in the 1980s, it featured mainly licensed music with only a few contributions from Vince DiCola. This means that the majority of DiCola’s score has been lost in the void for nearly 25 years, unavailable outside of the movie-watching experience.
So, is the album’s 32 minutes of music worth the $19.99 price tag we mentioned back in May? Well, one of the most interesting things about this album is that it shows DiCola’s versatility as well as his ability to masterfully work in references to classic Rocky themes from the past, both of which you may have missed if you were only familiar with his two tracks that made the cut for the 1980s soundtrack release.
Hit the jump for more in our review of the Rocky IV Original Motion Picture Score. (more…)
It was just a few days ago that Patrick reviewed Norihiko Hibino’s Hibino Sound Therapy Lab – Sound Library album. The idea is that the soothing melodies performed with live instruments are supposed to assist you in falling asleep, and the music actually contains embedded frequencies from nature that, while inaudible to the human ear, affect the frequencies that you can hear in unknown ways. Yeah, the theory behind it is complicated, but the application is not: just listen while going to bed, and like magic, you’re asleep!
While the physical album is only being sold in Malaysia as a part of the “Zzz Pack” (containing the CD and a sleep supplement), Hibino has been kind enough to give us a copy to give away to our readers. So how can you get your hands on this one? Simply head over to our Facebook fan page, become a fan, and either leave a comment or “like” one of our posts to enter. We’ll pick one person at random on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 11:59 PST to win a copy of the album. While you’re welcome to interact with us on our Facebook fan page as much as you’d like, we’ll only be counting one entry per person.
The wait is finally over. StarCraft II hits store shelves today, and to celebrate, we’ve got a special interview with Blizzard Entertainment Audio Director, Russell Brower, as well as composer Glenn Stafford. We get a run down of all the composers and session artists that are featured, talk about the soundtrack album that comes with the Collector’s Edition of the game, and discuss the music contained within the in-game jukebox We talk about the possibility of distributing new music along with other content on Battle.net, and jump into what Derek Duke has in store for fans in the Heart of the Swarm expansion pack that will be released in the future.
There’s a lot going on with this game and its lengthy soundtrack, so check out our interview after the jump. (more…)
Starscream, the two-piece progressive rock ensemble from New York City is without a doubt one of our favorite chiptune acts here at OSV. They tell stories about space, and they fill your ears with loud, sublime beauty while doing so. Back in 2009, the duo released their EP, Future And It Doesn’t Work on NYC’s premiere chiptune netlabel, 8bitpeoples, acting as a sort of prologue to the events depicted in their moody 8-bit rock opera, The Space Years (which we reviewed, and absolutely loved).
Now, bolstered by a digital bonus disc of remixes from a stellar cast of chiptune giants like Bit Shifter and Covox, Starscream are re-releasing both EPs as a digital downloads. Several of the tracks are free to download, and you can get both albums for only $8 total.
I had talked about the music for this strange, relaxing iPhone App last year. But, at the time, only four songs were available to check out via the app. Let’s face it: that’s not good enough! We need *more* sleep medication! And by “medication,” I mean “soft music from Norihiko Hibino!” No drugs required here.
Though, it should be noted, there is currently a P4S package sold in Malaysia containing this CD along with an “herbal supplement” in tow. Unfortunately, when reviewing this album, I did not get to try any of said herbal supplement. Maybe it’s not FDA-approved or something.
In any case, you should just click the “more” button, because after the jump, we have a full review of the complete 11-track album, entitled “Hibino Sound Therapy Lab.” (more…)
Yes, the big surprise at the Distant Worlds stop here at Comic Con in San Diego was that they performed music from Final Fantasy XIII. That’s not all, but we also got a taste of Final Fantasy XIV along with a number of tracks from the both the Distant Worlds and Distant Worlds II catalogs.
A great venue, great players and performers, a wonderful town (although it was really cold), and Uematsu in attendance made for a great evening. Find out what was played and what we thought of the Final Fantasy XIII and XIV pieces in our concert review after the jump. (more…)
While Konami’s presence of the Comic Con show floor is largely dedicated to Yu-Gi-Oh: The Trading Card Game, we had the chance to check out some of their games and ask some more questions to follow-up from our time with them at E3. We got more hands on with Hard Corps: Uprising, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and Otomedius, and were actually able to hear each of the games for a change.
So, what’s new with Hard Corps and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and what did we learn about Otomedius and Castlevania: Harmony of Despair? More after the jump! (more…)
