It was the final day of GDC, and with no particular agenda, Tim and I strolled into our interview with Hitoshi Sakimoto. What we found is that he’s amazingly mellow and easy to talk to. We discuss a variety of topics ranging from Sakimoto’s many trips to the United States, some of Basiscape’s recent projects, their company philosophy, and the unacceptable lack of an Opoona soundtrack release.

We also get Sakimoto’s opinion on the underground game music scene (which you may be surprised to hear), and find out that we’re not the only guys who are fans of Ken Hirai! Finally, we discuss what’s next for Sakimoto and Basiscape before heading our separate ways.

Read our interview with Hitoshi Sakimoto after the jump. (more…)

Another one that I’ve been dying to do. This is a popular soundtrack, ranking only second as the most collected album on the VGMdb, and with good cause. This game put Castlevania back on the map after its disappointing Nintendo 64 adventures, and also made composer Michiru Yamane a household name… at least for game music fans.

Rock, ambient, electronic, and even jazz, it’s all here, and it still sounds amazing. It’s been awhile since I’ve listened to it, and I’d almost forgotten just how good it is. I don’t think anyone will deny that the Akumajo Dracula X ~Noctrune in the Moonlight~ Original Game Soundtrack deserves to be featured as April’s soundtrack of the month.

Read about this gem of the game music world after the jump. (more…)

What happens when you combine God of War composer Gerard Marino with Carmen Rizzo, one of the top guys in global electronic music?  Amazing things, apparently, as was demonstrated by the duo’s GDC panel titled “The Dynamic Composing Duo: An Orctronica Case Study.” The two are currently working on an MMO that I’ve been told not to mention, but if you do a little digging around the Internet, it’s pretty easy to find out what it is.

The much-too-brief 20-minute session was packed with music clips from the title, all of which sounded amazing. Even more, we were able to get a look into what the two originally submitted as their demo for the project as well as hear both Gerard and Carmen’s contributions separately and together, which was a cool experience. I’ll say right now that I’m really excited about the music for this game!

Hit the jump to find out why. (more…)

Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) held it’s annual awards show this past week at the 2009 Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco, CA. This would mark the guild’s 7th award show since it’s inception, and as in previous years, featured a number of performances, speeches and a bar–albeit not an open bar as I had hoped. On the topic of alcohol though, the show could make for an interesting drinking game should anyone go back and try to watch recordings of it.

Find out what I mean and check out the winners after the jump. (more…)

[Left to right: Wataru Hokoyama, Jayson Napolitano, Norihiko Hibino, Tommy Kikuchi, Tetsuya Shibata]

Tim’s right when he says its been a long week at GDC. But it’s been a lot of fun too. We were fortunate enough to be able to catch up with Tetsuya Shibata, the Sound Director at Capcom Japan. He made his way to the San Francisco for the sole purpose of being present for the evening’s G.A.N.G. Awards where his vocal theme from Devil May Cry 4 had been nominated in the “Best Vocal – Pop” category.

We briefly discuss Resident Evil 5 and Devil May Cry 4, as well as his other 2008 projects.  We also learn about Shibata’s progression through the audio department at Capcom, and discuss his role in putting the Breath of Fire Special Box together. An interesting discussion is head.

Read our interview with Tetsuya Shibata after the jump. (more…)

It’s been a long week at the Game Developers Conference here in San Fransisco. Thankfully, there were plenty of panels, interviews and events to keep us busy. One of those said panels included a presentation by none other than composer and OSV contributor Norihiko Hibino. He provided us with an in-depth look into Japanese business practices surrounding game audio and dispelled a rumor or two in the process.

Learn about some of the gritty details after the jump. (more…)

We told you that Hitoshi Sakimoto would be at GDC, and while his keynote lecture yesterday titled “Experiences and Rare Insights Into the Videogame Industry” wasn’t particularly chalked full of insight, we did find out some rare and random facts about Sakimoto and other people on the Basiscape team.

So, what did he say? Aside from explaining that composers need to find their signature sound and be original in about 20 different ways, not a whole lot! It was still an amazing experience to hear him speak, and I think fans will find the seven random facts we gathered from his talk to be interesting!

Read the seven magic facts from Sakimoto’s GDC audio keynote after the jump! (more…)