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Featured, Game Music
Journey Nominated for Grammy Award
The 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees have just been announced, and with it, a piece of history. For the first time ever, a video game’s full soundtrack has been nominated for this award. Austin Wintory’s beautiful score for Journey, the downloadable title from thatgamecompany (makers of 2009′s Flower) finds itself among the biggest of the big boys up alongside other nominees like Hans Zimmer (for The Dark Knight Rises) and John Williams (for The Adventures of Tintin). Although we have a seen a huge influx of accomplished, big-studio film composers make their way over to gaming, it is not any of them or Activision or EA that can boast of such an honor, making this an even more notable occasion.
I do not expect Mr. Wintory to come home with the prize as I am sure that too many who vote have not heard Journey‘s unique and sweeping score. Even still, this is an incredible boost to the legitimacy of the art produced in this genre. The exceptional music writing in video games comes as no surprise to the readers and contributors to this site, but it’s about time the rest of the world took notice and learned what it was missing!
Congratulations, Austin Wintory! A well-deserved nomination for a beautiful score that helped to shape one of the most memorable experiences I have had in quite some time. And if any of you have not yet bought this soundtrack, what the hell are you waiting for?
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Featured, Game Music
OSV/RPGFan Team Interview: VGO Guests
[Left to right: Dennis Rubinshteyn, Patrick Gann, Noriyuki Iwadare, Damian Thomas, Hiroko Miyaji]The four guest composers at the VGO show in Boston on October 7, 2012, each managed to squeeze into their busy schedules some time with myself and some of my old friends from RPGFan. Above you’ll find a photo we took with Noriyuki Iwadare and his own guest, Ms. Hiroko Miyaji (wife of the late Takeshi Miyaji, creator of Grandia).
Before you read the interview, try taking this pop quiz. For one of these composers, we ask about all the action one of their earliest work has seen in the “SQ” arrangement series. For another, they are surprised to learn we know what the game Esper Dream is. For yet another, we find out a peer composer they really admire and respect of late is Michiko Naruke. And finally, one of these composers talks about his partnership with a particular game designer who used to work for Square Enix and is now with Level-5. Can you match up these four composers properly *before* reading the interview?
After the jump, check out our short but informative interviews with each of the four guest composers. And be sure to check out RPGFan for their questions and respective answers from each of these VGM luminaries! (more…)
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Featured, Game Music
One Musician To Another: Mike Morasky Interview
Where to begin? It’s a huge thrill for me to have an interview with an artist whose work I have found so entertaining as well as inspirational. For the unintiated, Mike Morasky is best known for his work composing Valve’s Left 4 Dead and Portal series. Most recently he has just completed work on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as well as Team Fortress 2: Mann vs. Machine. In addition to that, Portal 2: Songs to Test By (Collectors Edition) was just released which includes a four-disc set containing music from both Portal games. Please join me below as I get to talk with one of the most thoughtful and interesting game composers in the industry! (more…)
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Featured, Game Music
OSVchannel: Halo 4 Original Soundtrack Limited Edition Unboxing Video
There are those who said this day would never come. What are they to say now?
Halo 4 is on the horizon, and people have been wondering what composer Neil Davidge would do in Marty O’Donnell’s and Michale Salvatori’s place. While I personally enjoy the soundtrack album, it is admittedly different. Still, don’t let that dissuade you, as the music in-game is incredibly effective and will have you thinking of Metroid Prime fairly often.
In the meantime, check out the limited-run limited edition soundtrack above. It contains the soundtrack, a remix disc (with arguably better versions of the songs than found on the OST), and a making-of DVD. Also inside is a vinyl record, a code for an exclusive shirt for your XBLA avatar, a signed print, and a massive booklet walking fans through the music production process and each track on the album.
It’s available on the Halo 4 soundtrack website for $74.99, and is definitely worth your consideration.
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Featured, Game Music
Serenade of Souls – Perfect Selection Dracula New Classic (Review)
Chances are if you’ve ever gone to witness the fabulous performances of VGO, or were lucky enough to be in attendance of Castlevania: The Concert in Stockholm back in 2010, then you’ve been in attendance to some of the best arranging of the music of Castlevania in the form of classical and baroque styles. However, the early series was treated to an entire album of such back in 1992. Following the awful that most considered the dreaded Dracula Perfect Selection rap album, the Akumajo Dracula franchise managed to receive an arranged album that was stark contrast and probably did a great deal to turn fans back to the concept of arranged albums. (Myself included!)
Perfect Selection Dracula New Classic took many of the iconic tunes of the early games of the franchise released until that point, and re-created them in appropriate classical renditions. Does it undo the horror that was its arrangement predecessor? You be the judge. (more…)
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Featured, Game Music
Saddle Up with the Riders of Rohan OST (Review + Giveaway!)
Editor’s Note: We are breaking up our “Castlevania Week” coverage with this one weekend post, because we know you readers can only handle so much Castlevania in a given time period. We’ll be back with even more from that series on Monday. Until then … check out the review and giveaway below!
The Lord of the Rings Online (abbreviated “LOTRO”) has proven itself a successful MMORPG, surviving for many years and with many expansions even as its peers have their servers shut down or languish in inactivity from the developer’s side.
Certainly, a part of this is that the power of the franchise is helping to carry it. Of course, franchise power alone won’t carry an MMO (see Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is facing financial difficulties, or The Matrix Online which shut down years ago). The rest is that the game is apparently very strong, and the variable pricing has been solid, and regular expansion content keeps coming.
The latest, the Riders of Rohan expansion, featured over 20 new songs from series composer Chance Thomas. The soundtrack was released digitally on such services as iTunes, Amazon, and even free to stream on Spotify.
After the jump, our review of this adventurous new soundtrack. And, stick around ’til the end for a chance to win a special promotional CD copy of this otherwise digital-only OST! (more…)
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Featured, Game Music
Castlevania Week: Dracula Battle: Perfect Selection II (Review)
In the early-to-mid ’90s, Konami was having a good ol’ time with the Castlevania franchise. The likes of Super Castlevania IV, Rondo of Blood and Bloodlines ensured that the series stayed firmly within the limelight. The result of this was a slew of off-shoot arranged albums meant to celebrate one of the most iconic details of the series – its music.
Naoto Shibata and his merry band, Naoto Shibata PROJECT, hit the ball out of the park with the rock/metal-infused Dracula Battle: Perfect Selection album in 1994. Who could go wrong with doing a rock album using music from a series originally based on cheesy classic B-horror movies and a Conan-clone walking around bare-legged with a whip?
Evidently the answer to that was “Who the hell cares, we’re doing a Castlevania rock album, so piss off.”, because not only was there a market for Dracula Battle, it ended up spawning a another album: Dracula Battle: Perfect Selection II. (The producers hadn’t gotten to the point of elaborate naming schemes yet, thought “Dracula Battle: The Serenade of Melodious Metal Part 2″ might not have been the way to go either)
And thus, in the year of our lord 1995, a sequel was born. (more…)
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Featured, Game Music
Soundtrack of the Month 10/12: Akumajo Dracula Best
Continuing in our “Castlevania Week” adventures, and simultaneously resurrecting our “Soundtrack of the Month” feature (something we haven’t run in a whole year!), today we bring you a special review for a very special album.
You can actually pick up multiple versions of the album. Its original CD print, one of Konami’s first albums with King Records, is catalog number KICA-1005, released in March 1990. Retro nerds might also be interested the cassette tape version released at the same time (KITA-1005). At the time, the album was named Akumajo Dracula Famicom Best. But when it was widely reprinted in 1998 (most people I know who have this album, have this reprint), they dropped “Famicom” from the album title (even though all the music is still from the Famicom). That album’s catalog number is KICA-7901, and wouldn’t you know it, CDJapan still has it in stock.
What this album contains, and what it doesn’t contain, is worth discussing at length. So, after the jump, I’ll give you the details. (more…)
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Featured, Game Music
Radio Pandora – Borderlands 2 OST (Review)
Like sci-fi? Like westerns? (No, this won’t become a discussion about Cowboys vs. Aliens – lower your torches) If you said yes to any of that, then chances are you played Borderlands. If you didn’t, get off your duff, go buy it, and play through. Go on, I’ll wait.
No I won’t.
Created in 2009, Borderlands was most commonly known as “Futuristic Spaghetti Western meets first-person shooter meets Diablo” for its aforementioned setting, game style and leveling system. Its soundtrack was placed in the responsible hands of Cris Velasco (Clive Barker’s Jericho, Prototype) along with his recently-established partner in melodic mischief Sascha Dikiciyan, along with the established Danish composer Jesper Kyd (Assassin’s Creed, Unreal Tournament 3) and sound designer Raison Varner. This rag-tag team created an atmospheric musical accompaniment to the underground hit that helped shape the soul of the game.
So yeah, guess who’s back for another romp on Pandora? (more…)
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Featured, Game Music
Standing On Their Own Feet: VGO Live At Symphony Hall
[rehearsal photo courtesy Damian Thomas]We’ve been ceaselessly promoting the VGO in the past month. Full disclosure: VGO founder Shota Nakama is technically an OSV member, as he has provided many translation services for us over the years. But he is much more than a translator. He’s a guitarist, an arranger, an organizer and producer.
So when the Video Game Orchestra put on their first no-strings-attached show (no Distant Worlds, no association with a convention, no “film and game music in the same concert”), we at OSV were all on board to see it succeed.
And this past weekend, that’s exactly what I saw.
Next week, we’ll have our interview with the four guest composers at the show (Noriyuki Iwadare, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Yoko Shimomura, Kinuyo Yamashita). But for now, after the jump, I’d like to give you my detailed report of the concert, as well as some strange and wonderful encounters I had with industry veterans and fans alike. (more…)
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Featured, Game Music
TOO GOOD!! Dust: An Elysian Tail OST (Review)
There’s a part of me that’s angry about HyperDuck SoundWorks’ newest release. It has to do with timing.
You see, there have been boatloads of wonderful indie game soundtracks released in 2012. It has been truly overwhelming. But, at the end of the year, I thought I had my winner for the indie game OST category picked out already. And how would anything sneak up and knock my new favorite off its pedestal within the last few months of the year?
Well, they did it. Chris and the rest of the HyperDuck team, alongside some special assistance from VGM veteran Alexander Brandon (Deus Ex, Bejeweled 3), have thrown in a surprise contender in the form of the soundtrack for Dust: An Elysian Tail (an Action RPG for XBLA). This thing is amazing and surprising and well outside the style(s) I expected to find on the soundtrack.
After the jump, our detailed review and (of course) the bandcamp embed! (more…)
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Chip Music, Featured, Game Music
Give It To Me Straight: SQ Chips 2 (Review)
Purchase SQ Chips 2: CDJapan | Play-Asia
Without question, SQ Chips was a success for Square Enix. Fans loved it, critics loved it, and it apparently sold well enough in Japan and worldwide to not only do a sequel album, but to also dig deep in the chiptunes scene and create separate chip-arrange albums for Final Fantasy VII through XI.
I’ve probably said this in other reviews, and I’ll say it in this one as well: if you’re going to milk a franchise, and/or you’re going to milk an arrangement style for your franchises, it’s not necessarily a bad thing as long as it’s done right! Look at Falcom, after all. The Ys series took on a life of its own in the world of music; Falcom rewarded eager listeners, and in turn, Falcom was rewarded for providing high-quality music. Win-win, right?
So, is SQ Chips 2 following in the convention of “win-win,” or do we have a series of phoned-in arrangements to try and hop on a burgeoning fad (the chiptunes scene)? I’ll “give it to you straight” after the jump. (more…)
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