61 Frames Per Second : music

Nintendo DSi Has "Figured Me Out," Literally!

Derrick Sanskrit — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:00:00 GMT

They've finally done it. Nintendo has finally made me want to upgrade my old white DS Lite for a new DSi (haven't decided on color yet, but I'm leaning towards the electric blue).

I've resisted for months. I already have two DSes, I don't need one with two 0.3 megapixel cameras, that's just stupid. I don't care if my DS can play AAC audio files, that's what I have an iPod for. And no GBA slot? Yeah, I hardly ever use it, but come on! I should have known Nintendo had an ace up their sleeve when it was revealed a few weeks back that Beyoncé would be doing their advertisements for Rhythm Heaven, a game that I want to encourage everyone in the world to buy and play incessantly. I'm not really a fan of Beyoncé (I could go for a little more "Bugaboo" and a whole lot less "Single Ladies") but I certainly don't hate her and this ad campaign is clearly effective (just look at Professor Layton's sales numbers since the Lisa Kudrow ads started airing...a full calendar year after the game was released!). Having read that the ad campaign was supposed to start this week, I flipped over to the Nintendo Channel on my Wii for a peek. Imagine my surprise when I see not one, not two, but three videos with the coolest, most soulful white boy in the world, Jamie Lidell!

Behold, his DSi-inspired-and-powered remix of "Figured Me Out":

That's the ultimate end-product of his Nintendo shoot, but there's also a really great "behind the scenes" video with Jamie demonstrating how he used the DSiSound program (pre-installed on every DSi) to tweak his already slick single into this mysterious pop euphony. He also goofs off with the camera a bit, but come on, he's a musician, he's there for the audio and boy does he sell it. The third video is a short clip of him enjoying a round of ping-pong in Rhythm Heaven.

Now, as a hip, young 21st century media packrat, the announcements of these standard DSi features did not excite me. If i wanted to goof off with photos for no good reason, I can use photoshop far more effectively. If I wanted to tinker around with music, there's a plethora of music software on my Mac and several rooms full of instruments. Telling me about these features does not interest me. Jim, though, has shown me how he used the DSi in exactly the same way I've used so many games to add new elements to songs I've recorded at home. I originally bought a DS just to play Electroplankton. I've mentioned before that I bought Gunpey DS just for the sequencer. I've recorded the drum set in the original Rhythm Tengoku and the acoustic guitar in Jam Sessions and the synthesizer in Korg DS-10. I often use the DS as a musical instrument, and seeing a musician I respect doing the same actually made me giddy.

Lidell, of course, is no stranger to commercially "selling out," as his track "A Little Bit More" was prominently featured in a Target campaign a while back, but I like Target, Nintendo, and Jamie, so I don't really mind. Keep in mind, though, that owning a DSi will not instantly give you the talent neccesary to produce remixes like this. Jamie knows what he's doing. Just look what he did with a sound board, two microphones, and his voice:

Still, my mind is swimming with new ideas for musical performance using DSiSound. Between that and new downloadable Art Style games (six in Japan, so far) I am caving and getting myself a DSi next week. I'll probably even enjoy the cameras. See how easy that was, Nintendo? All I needed was an outgoing British soul singer to convince me to buy the third version of the same portable game system. You win.

Related articles:
Here Comes The DSi
Style Over Substance: Why I Love WiiWare's "Art Style"
Make The Music With Your Games, Kids!

Ghostface & DOOM Bring The Ruckus To Chinatown

Derrick Sanskrit — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:30:00 GMT

Arguably the biggest game released this week was Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the DS. It's an impressively deep, true-to-the-series, handcramp-inducing marvel, but when it comes to a series like Grand Theft Auto it's not about the game, it's about the street cred. Many were worried about a loss in credibility by putting such a controversial series on the family-favorite DS. Well, contemporary music snobs and hoodrats alike, take note, as Chinatown Wars gets a heaping helping of respect in its theme song:

Oh yes, villains, it's the legendary killer bee Ghostface Killah and the man in the mask DOOM (formerly MF Doom) in this sick cut produced by Oh No. That's right, hip-hop historians, on this one video game theme we have representatives of the Wu-Tang Clan, KMD, and Stones Throw. It's also worth noting that Ghostface and DOOM are two of the most critically acclaimed rappers of our time. A generally cool little number, the Chinatown Wars theme is yet another tease for the long-hyped GhostDoom album (and we know Doom plays well with others).

Oh yeah, videogames. You know, it's GTA, only it's on the DS. If you like both of those things, you'll probably love Chinatown Wars. I'm sorry, it's so easy to forget about that when you're groovin to the good shizz.

Thanks to the Stones Throw twitter.

Related articles:
New GTA Gets Europe's First 18 On DS
Exclusive: Peaceoholics Protest Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto 4
Grand Theft Auto IV's Post-Game Purgatory

Bringing Sexy Back: Rebecca Mayes's Musical Game Reviews

Derrick Sanskrit — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Game People is a blog that has been amusing me for a little while now, playing to the idea that there are many different types of gamers out there (there are) and that they deserve to have their opinions on games heard (they do) because they're interesting and insightful (they are!). They've got a sports gamer and a teen gamer and a family gamer and even a haiku gamer who reviews games with haikus and origami. It seems the contributor drawing the most attention, though, is Rebecca Mayes, Game People's "audio gamer".

Like so many people we know and love, Rebecca is new to the world of video games. She does not have a pedigree in Metroid, Rebecca is just diving into a mysterious pool of beautifully uncertain water and hoping she'll float. She does this by doing what comes naturally to her, writing and recording quaint little pop songs about whatever she's playing. If ever a genre was formed of "twee gaming," I think Rebecca and I would be right there in the same boat of uneasy wonder, she plucking her guitar strings and me thumbing my kalimba. What? Sorry, I seem to have drifted off there for a moment... As is, they're rather delightful jaunts. Check out her newest one for Flower (sorry, the embeded player doesn't seem to work on our blog). The sound is somewhere between Imogen Heap and a hushed Neko Case, for anyone to whom that sort of thing matters.

She's also got some rather amusing ones for Hello Kitty, Okami and Wii Sports, but easily her best ballad to date is this ode to Kyle Hyde, the shifty hero of Hotel Dusk: Room 215:

Rebecca makes me long for the days of adorning my beret as a patron of our local open mic night eight years ago, writing stream of concious songs during the day and performing them at night...except her's are all charming and about video games. Keep an eye out, she seems to do these on a roughly monthly basis.

Previously on Bringing Sexy Back:
The Nintendo DS Spa
Toshihiro Nagoshi
Retro Controllers of the Future
John Carmack
Street Fighter Dress-Up Party!
Susan O'Conner
Yoji Shinkawa

Also:
Soulja Boy on Braid: "BWOOOOOOOP!"

FMV Hell: Moses and Me

Nadia Oxford — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:04:00 GMT

Last week, a member of the Gamespite forums put together a Let's Play for Link: The Faces of Evil. I can only guess he's tired of life. I suppose living has lost its lustre for me as well, as I followed his progress throughout the weekend.

The CD-i's Zelda atrocities are heckled at every opportunity, and with good reason. The controls are intolerable, the characters are abominable, and the cut scenes are indescribable. But I was shocked to learn through this particular Let's Play that the CD-i slopped its userbase with worse material through its “career”.

See, the CD-i's Zelda library could at least legitimately be called games. Not good games or even functional games, but games nonetheless. There were items to collect, a goal to reach, terrain to navigate. Moses: The Exodus on the CD-i, on the other hand, didn't offer any gameplay aside from “Sing along to songs that are too bland for Sunday School.” Admittedly, that was a clever way to skirt around the controller issues that plagued Faces of Evil.

The Angry Video Game Nerd already made a passing mention (rather, a passing rant) about the dreary song collection, but its champion, “Moses and Me” is worth another look. The song is about a school kid who's pressured into whispering test answers to his lazy-ass classmates. The choice is clear: do as they ask, or “end up all alone.”

Much as I hate to admit it, “Moses and Me” tackles a conundrum that every kid finds himself in sometimes, particularly shy, brainy kids desperate for friends. Unsurprisingly, the song pitches forward and lands flat on its face with its proposed resolution: believe hard enough in Moses and he will somehow come down from Mount Sinai to protect you from bullies like a shiny Gyrados.

I showed this video to some of my friends, and we asked each other important questions:

-Is Moses responsible for the graffiti at the start of the video?

-Why didn't the yard monitor come running when a wrinkled old Moses cosplayer showed up in the vicinity of young boys?

-Is Moses buddies with this guy?

I suppose only the Lord knows.

Related Links:

FMV Hell: Star Studded Casts: Do You Give a Crap?
FMV Hell: Mega Man X4
FMV Hell: Sonic CD

Space Invaders vs. Röyksopp

Derrick Sanskrit — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:00:00 GMT

If you're like me, you remember the early part of this decade as crowding around the fastest internet connection one of your friends had and watching music videos on Yahoo, especially the haunting "Poor Leno" and the informationriffic diagramtastic "Remind Me", both from Röyksopp. If not, you've probably found yourself inadvertantly humming along with "Remind Me" in that Geico commerical. There was some mixed reception for their 2005 sophomore album, but anticipation is high for the Norwegian duo's third disc, Junior, next month.

Right, so why am I talking about Röyksopp on a video game blog? Because they just released the video for Junior's first single, "Happy Up Here", and it pays a glorious homage to Space Invaders. Check it out below:

Note: This video was featured on Pitchfork.tv very briefly last week before being pulled and all traces of it on YouTube have also been pull by EMI Music Group. Catch it while you can before it disappears again.

Related articles:
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RAC Remixes The Legend of Zelda
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Music Video for Adventure

Left 4 Dead's Francis Hates Everything

Cole Stryker — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Even Ayn Rand.

More Left 4 Dead Madness, created by the geniuses known as GCIDogmeat and GCITherewolf. The video is worth watching just for the goofy gameplay ineptitude, but the accompanying song wherein Francis details all of his least favorite things is magic. Reminds me of Right Said Fred.

Video Game Music that "Brings You Back"

Bob Mackey — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Because I've been playing video games since I started retaining memories (roughly age 3), a disturbing amount of my personal history can be linked to my lifelong hobby. The past, for me, is not defined by important world events, but rather, what I happened to be playing at that moment in time. Case in point: September 11th was the first day I was able to get my hands on the original Advance Wars. Coincidence? I really hope so.

That being said, going back to Mario Kart 64 (which has aged pretty terribly) recently reminded me how much of my goddamned mid-to-late teenage years were spent playing this game. Let me point out that A.) I didn't own an N64 until said teenage years had passed and B.) I never even owned Mario Kart 64. But just upon hearing one specific song from the game's soundtrack, I'm immediately brought back to my days of teenage nerd solidarity replete with endless pizzas, soda, and other body-destroying substances we used to shield ourselves from the outside world. The funny thing is, back when there were only two Mario Karts in the world, I preferred the SNES one by a pretty big margin. Yet I still distinctly remember accompanying one of my friends to Toys R Us to buy the game nearly 12 years ago, as well as the pizza that was consumed afterwards. I'm honestly surprised that I didn't grow up to be a 400-pound shut-in.

So what song from Mario Kart 64 whisks me away to the wonderful and awkward world of puberty?

Ahh, I can feel the loneliness and rejection of being a teenage nerd wash all over me like an oatmeal bath. While I go out and search for a rope, please feel free to share your own nostalgia-inducing tunes. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Related Links:

Bad Games With Good Music: Eternal Sonata
OST: Treasure of the Rudras
OST: DuckTales

Whatcha Listening To?: Ebben Flow Soundtrack

Cole Stryker — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Behold, the Spinal Tap of JRPG music! Ebben Flow is a nonexistent Japanese role playing game that serves to provide a conceptual backdrop for the music of one Michael Chadwick. Here's a synopsis of the game, which I repeat, doesn't actually exist:

Join Olos, Claire, and Senegal as they try to make sense of a world now mostly underwater, save for a few dry patches of land known as The New United Islands which they each call home. Vast cityscapes loom in the murky depths and hidden treasures pocket the sea floor which has now become dangerously low to visitors.

Each of the characters you will meet and control have their own agenda in the land of Ebben Flow. Their paths may cross and diverge at will, leading to exciting new tangents and side stories. Several factions desire to rule their local and remote islands, as well as the depths below, and they're not above treachery or chaos to achieve it.

I don't think that Chadwick intended this to parody JRPG composers, but I think it does a fine job of illustrating how staid and unsurprising the music has become over the years. Furthermore, his character description is clever satire of common JRPG cliches. Consider "Claire":

A quiet feeling of dread permeates her soul, however. Despite the high bounds of her optimism she knows it could all be a lie. Left for dead by parents massacred in a great war two decades ago, Claire has found her moral and ethical compass composed of the world aroud her. Scrappy, yet kind, she's sure opportunity is out there somewhere, as long as she keeps looking for it.

It's just as good as most JRPG soundtracks, and though you can probably tell I don't think much of that whole genre, it's a fun project and worth a listen for giggles. Download a zip file of the entire soundtrack and immerse yourself in the epic marine adventure.

(via Kotaku)

WTFriday: The Splash Woman Rap

Bob Mackey — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Note to readers: WTFriday is a weekly feature where I find something stupid about video games and get you to laugh until it goes away. Please try to forget this is what I normally do every day of the week.

"Sometimes it's hard to be Splash Woman..."
- Tammy Wynette, "Stand By Your Mega Man"

Thanks to the kind folks at Game Music 4 All, I've become obsessed with some of the more creative video game remixes out there, like the Mother mashup I posted about yesterday. The weekly WTFriday falls on something just as awesome, but far more bizarre: an original Mega Man 9 music video featuring a completely-original rap set to Splash Woman's stage music. The lyrics to said rap shine a little more light on the obvious sexual tension between Mega Man and Splash Woman, and also give us a disturbing look into an alternate universe where Sonic Team somehow became responsible for creating Mega Man's music. But rest assured that Knuckles' rapping abilities fall short when compared to this fan-made project.

Related Links:

WTFriday: The Super Mario Bros. Anime
WTFriday: The Soothing Sounds of Yoshi
WTFriday: Bob's Game Is a Big Ol' Slice of Psycho

The Best of Wintry Video Game Music

Bob Mackey — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:00:00 GMT

When you live in something called "the snow belt," your tolerance for inclement weather wholly determines your sanity. We've gotten so much of the fluffy white stuff recently that traveling anywhere in my town now involves following a carved-out snow trench to its logical end, all while hoping you don't end up in another state or the fabled Canadas. But even with nature trying to snuff me out under a thick pillow of precipitation, I've gone through most of my life without hating this time of the year; in fact, winter-themed video game levels have always been a favorite of mine, despite their irritating qualities. And for some reason, they always seem to have great music--which I'd like to share with you today.

The following are some of my favorite winter-themed video game tunes; they evoke the spirit of the season perfectly without such real-word drawbacks as windshield-scraping, frostbite, and heating bills which spiral out of control.

Super Mario 64 - Snow Mountain

"Snow Mountain" is just a take on Super Mario 64's main theme--which itself is an odd inverse version of the original Super Mario Bros. theme--but the bouncy accordian mixed with traditional tingly instruments makes the perfect soundtrack for bouncing through the snow. If city parks played this on a nonstop loop from December to March, I assume we'd have one more weapon in the fight against seasonal affective disorder.

Donkey Kong Country - Nothern Hemispheres

I don't have many good memories of Donkey Kong Country aside from the snow levels, and "Northern Hemispheres" is probably the reason why. Music in winter-themed video game levels is usually playful, but Donkey Kong Country took a completely different route by including a song that evoked the feeling of aimlessly wandering through a vast, snowy wasteland. Very effective.

Earthbound - "Winters"

All of the music in Earthbound is amazing, and "Winters" is no exception. It has the same sort of bittersweet, nostalgic tint as the rest of the soundtrack, but the jingling bells and oddly trilling organ really make it a highlight of the game. The song has a strange, hopeful feeling that really matches both its location in the game and its specific point in the story.

Final Fantasy VI - The Mines of Narshe

"The Mines of Narshe" is one of the first songs you hear in Final Fantasy VI, and it matches the somewhat-mournful tone of the game perfectly. From the tinkly piano to the breathy sound effect interspersed throughout the track, you get a sense of the gloomy atmosphere and an ominous feeling of what's to come. It always annoyed me a little that the Narshe theme went away after the transition to the World of Ruin.

So, did I miss anything important? Let me know in the comments. Also, links to the songs would be nice if you could dig them up.

Related Links:

OST: Treasure of the Rudras
OST: Rule of Rose
OST: DuckTales

Bad Games With Good Music: Tales of Legendia

Bob Mackey — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:30:00 GMT

No one really expected Tales of Legendia to have any redeeming qualities; from the beginning, it was clear this game was going to be a low budget exercise in filling Namco-Bandai's money vault until the next real Tales of game could be released. And Legendia certainly did revel in its lack of budget; not only was the first part of game roughly 25 hours, this installment in the beloved series also featured a second quest that involved replaying most of the game in a new context just to learn more about the characters--who were far from compelling. Even the battle system, the one saving grace of the Tales series, was marred by the constant "Hoo! Hah! Take that!" of the main character, which persisted even after turning off character voices. But even with all of these problems, Legendia can't be completely written off--and its amazing soundtrack by composer Go Shiina is more than proof of that.

You may be familiar with Shiina's work on the amazing Mr. Driller Drill Land soundtrack, which is undoubtedly the best music ever produced for a puzzle game. His work on Legendia is a little more "RPGish," but Shiina carries a sense of eclecticism to the music that's distinctly his. And once you listen to a few samples, you'll agree that his name really needs to be up there with Mitsuda and Uematsu in the Video Game Composers Hall of Fame that someone has yet to build.

Melfes: Shining Blue

Run in the Middle of the Storm

Tomorrow Will Surely Be Sunny

Related Links:

Bad Games With Good Music: Eternal Sonata
Wii Music: A Rare Miss For Miyamoto?
Whatcha Listening To: The Earthbound Soundtrack

Confessions of the Young and Stupid: I Almost Bought a Genesis For Moonwalker

Nadia Oxford — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:17:00 GMT

When the Sega Genesis came on the scene, there were specific game advertisements or previews that made kids look at their 8-bit Nintendo with new doubt. Some children started paying attention to the Genesis when Altered Beast wose from its gwave. Others started pulling on their mom's arm for Sonic the Hedgehog.

The first game that gave me “console envy” was Michael Jackson's Moonwalker.

If you're nodding with me right now, you're around my age and you understand me. If you're snickering, you're a young punk and gerroff my lawn.

When I was a kid, the name “Michael Jackson” made kids' eyes light up. Promises of special trips to Neverland Ranch and all the candy we could eat weren't necessary; Michael was just that cool. Everyone wanted to be Michael. He could dance, he could perform and damn it all, he put together Thriller.

Moonwalker was cool, too. At the time, it made perfect sense to me that Michael's demigod essence could not be contained by the dinky Nintendo; no, it would take nothing less than a 16-bit temple. The in-game playlist was enough to stop a kid's heart: Bad, Billie Jean and Thriller to name a few (though we did get stiffed pretty bad Thriller-wise, since the music didn't show up where you'd expect it to—hello, graveyard? Zombies?).

But once you stripped (!!!) the suave suit and hat from Moonwalker, it wasn't much beyond a mediocre platformer with a big name and Bubbles face-sitting action. The music was ambitious and it carried that delightful digital “twang” exclusive to the Genesis sound chip, but kids who traded in Super Mario 3 to finance Moonwalker felt the loss.

Especially when certain events moonwalked into the spotlight. Heck, by that point, owning the game probably felt gross, like being in possession of questionable anime hentai bordering on child pornography.

The Angry Video Game Nerd took an extensive look at Moonwalker this week. At the very least, you can behold Super Warrior Robot Michael in his Holy laser-shooting crusade against child kidnappers. Go Go! Mecha Michael! For Save The Children!!

Related Links:

Warner Music Wants More Royalties
Music Game Shark Jumpin': Activision Possibly Too Legit to Quit, Working With MC Hammer
Whatcha Listening To: The Earthbound Soundtrack

WTFriday: The Soothing Sounds of Yoshi

Bob Mackey — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Giving Mario's dinosaur pal Yoshi a human-like voice is quite possibly one of the worst ideas in the history of video games. Okay, okay; what Yoshi sounds like now isn't quite as brain-melting as the voice he had in the *shudder* Super Mario World cartoon, but almost everyone will agree that Yoshi's old, synthesized cry (one that's impossible to transform into onomatopoeia) is preferable to his newish status of sounding like a constipated toddler who shouts his own name like a Pokemon wannabe. Unfortunately, some people actually seem to enjoy the infant babblings of Mario's once dignified friend; specifically, people like YouTube user DJchedda727, who somehow thought it would be an awesome idea to transform the entire vocabulary of Yoshi into the illest of beats. The result is strangely catchy--but keep in mind that if you play the Yoshi Mix while driving, you may get shot at. By cops.

Video after the cut.

Related Links:

WTFriday: Bob's Game Is a Big Ol' Slice of Psycho
WTFriday: "This Place Is All About Your Balls."
WTFriday: Mario Versus Air Man

Music About Video Games Friday: Dr. Robotnik (Eggman)

Derrick Sanskrit — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:30:00 GMT

Two months ago, a consortium named Intercontinental Music Lab released their album Superheroes of Science, 12 songs about historical scientists and their works...and one song about a fictional scientist and his foibles.What fictional character was deemed a brilliant enough scientist to have their song stand alongside the likes of Wilhlem Conrad Rontgen, Galileo Galilei, and Wilhelm Reich? Why, Sonic the Hedgehog's arch-nemesis Dr. Robotnik, of course! (as if the picture at right didn't give that away)

If you enjoyed this song and want to hear more like it, you can stream or download the entire album for free right here and learn more about the project on the Superheroes of Science blog.

Related Articles:
The Only Thing I Know How To Say: "Thank You Mario..."
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My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Rock Band 2

Bob Mackey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:00:00 GMT

It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal for only one more excruciating day! Please enjoy.

I used to refer to games like Guitar Hero as the video game equivalent of going on a car ride with your dad. And for the most part, this was true; when your most hated of music genres is overplayed classic rock, the proposition of picking up a plastic axe and thrashing away to the soundtrack of the worst radio stations on earth was not exactly an enticing one. So, being the curmudgeon that I was (and am), I ignored the modern music game based on my prejudices alone--and the fact that I never wanted to hear Lynard Skynard or Journey again for the rest of my life. Little did I know that the fine folks at Harmonix were hard at work on a music game that could appeal to people beyond the demographic of classic rock jockeys. But after doing some research of my own, and getting astoundingly drunk, I was finally able to realize the wonders of Rock Band 2. And now I can never go back.

Yes, the selection in Rock Band 2 isn't perfect; I would personally kill for some Violent Femmes tracks, or perhaps an entire album--but I'm sure we all have our Rock Band Wish lists. Still, nearly everyone I've invited back to my tiny apartment has found at least a handful of songs they were gung-ho about either singing of playing, which is far from what I experienced with the Guitar Heroes of old. It really is the ultimate party game, and I'd rather slap my grandma (sorry, grandma) than try to entertain a room full of hip 20-somethings with any of the casual party offerings on the Wii. You know how fast a good, old-fashioned broken bottle fight would break out if I tried to get people to play a session of Mario Party? If we ever finished, they would surely kill me afterwards.

Related Links

My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Audiosurf
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Braid
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Grand Theft Auto IV
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Fable 2
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Persona 3: FES
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Audiosurf

Bob Mackey — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT

It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal over the next ten excruciating days! Please enjoy.

So, what is there to say about Audiosurf? Unfortunately, I already wrote extensively about the game for a former blogging gig, and since part of my bridge-burning policy involves insulting all of my former employers, I'm going to go ahead and call that website awful. But, as an entertainment writer, it's my job to be repetitive. My job. My Job. Repetitiveness is my job. So I must solider on by informing you of how amazing Audiosurf is--as if you didn't know.

And if you didn't know, Audiosurf turns any non-DRM protected MP3 file (I'm looking at you, iTunes) into a puzzle/racing hybrid rollercoaster. And the most amazing part of this is that it actually does a good job of transforming audio into a physical construction; admittedly, the game is kind of simple, but there's really nothing like experiencing your favorite songs via Audiosurf's Tronlike trappings. And, if you came of age in the 1990s like me, the whole quiet/loud alternarock thing is perfect for the virtual architecture of Audiosurf--as are any songs with tempo changes and strong beats.

The "game" part of Audiosurf is nothing more than simple color matching (think high-intensity Klax), but there are quite a few different modes of play available for almost any kind of hardcore or casual temperament. Audiosurf is no Guitar Hero or Rock Band; but the ability to "ride" any song in the world for the low price of ten bucks more than makes up for the intricately-designed note tracking of the modern plastic guitar genre. The game has unexpectedly become a major part of my life; whenever I buy a new album, I immediately start listening to it by playing the tracks in Audiosurf. Nerdy, but amazing. And an essential part of my 2008.

Related Links:

Miyamoto Says, "It Would Be Great If Music Education Started With Wii Music."
Warner Music Wants More Royalties
Surprise! Nickelback Misunderstands Guitar Hero

OST: The Great Mitsuda Music Heist

Bob Mackey — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Charles Caleb Colton once said "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," but it's important to remember that he coined this aphorism far before the invention of modern copyright laws and Japanese RPGs. That being said, Breath of Fire III composers Akari Kaida and Yoshino Aoki must've had Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mistuda dead in the sights of their flattery gun (it shoots flattery, you see) while composing at least one of the tracks of Capcom's long-running RPG franchise; the similarity between the piece in question and one of Mitsuda's own is unmistakable.

If you're wondering why I've kept this news to myself for over a decade, here are some answers: A.) Chrono Trigger DS is out, so this is semi-relevant, and B.) The existence of YouTube means it's finally easy for the lazy (i.e., me) to easily provide such a comparison. Square-Enix, when the lawsuit is over, I'll gladly take a generous "legal consultant fee."

Anyway, here are the songs in question:

"Secret of the Forest," composed in 1995:

"Forest Theme," composed in 1997:

Shocking, I know. When I first played Breath of Fire III in 1998, I picked up on the similarity between the two songs, too. But back then there wasn't anyone around me nerdy enough to care. Thanks for making my dreams come true.

Related Links:

Your Way: Chrono Trigger and The Glory of Options
The Chrono Trigger Port: Are You Excited or Disappointed?
Where is Yasunori Mitsuda?

Japanese Musicocracy: Capcom's Numerous Tributes to Axl Rose

Nadia Oxford — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:53:00 GMT

I don't know how many years Axl Rose spent working on his latest album, Chinese Democracy, but I seem to remember still playing with dollies when the project was first announced. I'd say I was about 13 years of age. Don't judge me.

Axl's hibernation was long, but he had the courtesy to surface every few years and eat a former band member so we wouldn't forget him. Forget him we did not, though perhaps the Japanese deserve the most credit for keeping Guns N' Roses alive through video games.

Capcom in particular was good about reminding us that Axl Rose was more than a scary story parents told their children when they formed an obsession with hair bandanas. GnR's influence flavours the streets of Metro City in Final Fight, haunts X in Mega Man X's Maverick uprisings, and, in Street Fighter III, gives us a glimpse of what Axl might look like if he drank two steroid smoothies every day.

You might have missed Axl and Slash in Final Fight; they were mere droplets in the tsunami of thugs that crashed over Cody, Haggar and Guy. It was an unspectacular appearence anyway. Slash didn't try to hit anyone with a concrete Gibson and Axl didn't have an attack involving a heroin syringe. I'm sorry, I'll show myself out the door.

Appetite for Destruction formed the backbeat for my childhood, which was nice. Nostalgic, I re-discovered the album at the same time I was playing Mega Man X3, so certain links were easy for me to establish.

By Mega Man X5's release in 2001, we were in danger of never caring if Axl showed his face again. Capcom USA said "Noooooo!" and dove for their latest release with a red pen. When they were done, we had eight Mavericks named after Guns N' Roses band members instead of the usual descriptors paired with animals. The subsequent fandom drama was magnificent. "Oh, Capcom USA," they all wept, "How could you apply a name as stupid as 'Duff McWhalen' to a robot whale with legs?"

There are those who argue that Mega Man X5's Guns N' Roses tribute was strictly Capcom USA's candy-crack idea, but they obviously haven't had a good look at the background in Axl The Red's stage.

They're probably also in denial about a certain snot-nosed punk Reploid kid who ran flailing into Mega Man X7, but we can't blame them for that.

So who does that leave? I'm not totally convinced that someone at Capcom wasn't furiously inhaling the hairspray fumes from an eBayed Axl bandana when they came up with Alex from Street Fighter III. We already know Axl's a bad enough dude to pick on security guards, so street fighting would be the next logical step.

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Rock Band: My Anti-Music

Bob Mackey — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Last Friday, Joe blogged about the curmudgeonly Nickelback and their outrage over how music games like Guitar Hero are supposedly preventing people from actually picking up real instruments and starting bands. As I said in the comments section of that post, if the world needs anything, it's fewer local bands; the town I come from is so lousy with them, you can't leave your car parked anywhere for more than ten minutes without your entire windshield getting plastered with an inch-thick layer of fliers. So I don't think we need to worry about rock and roll going anywhere anytime soon--and if anything, Nickelback is only contributing to the death of the genre, what with their general shittyness and all.

For me, though, Rock Band is my only real musical outlet. You see, between the ages of 16 and 17, I had about a year-and-a-half of guitar lessons--and while it didn't give me much of a musical foundation, I still picked up some fundamental skills that manifested into a sort of prototype Guitar Hero. I'd put on a song, try to play along with it to the best of my ability, and think "Damn, this would be pretty sweet as a video game." Of course, I'm not exactly claiming I had the idea first; everyone knows that GuitarFreaks predated Guitar Hero by a good seven years--I think my imagination was mainly stoked by my obsession with Um Jammer Lammy and the guitar controllers found on the Japan-only arcade release of the game.

So, essentially, I'm now reliving a far less authentic version of my teenage years; but it really doesn't bother me. I may be keeping Nickelback up at night, but at this point in my life, I don't really have the time or patience for playing "real" music. It's a little surreal to play songs in Rock Band that I actually know on the real guitar, but the instant gratification completely makes up for guilt over my stunning lack of musical discipline and my utter contempt for the act of stringing. And now, I'm pretty sure that I have some vague idea of how drums work! Oh, and speaking of drums: any of you aspiring drum players out there, heed my words. Your friends do not want to come over and listen to you drum along to that Rage Against the Machine CD. They're just too polite to tell you.

I'm no hypocrite; if all the kids out there were playing Freelance Writer Hero, I wouldn't even think to bemoan the death of my chosen art. Though I would question their idea of "fun."

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Devildom String Orchestra: Music, Masks, and Madness

Bob Mackey — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:00:00 GMT

The hardcore American video game fan has been known embark on some pretty wild and awesome projects, even if some of them do happen to be complete fakes. But there's just something about the industriousness of the Japanese hardcore that puts all of us to shame; just take a look at any Japanese-created levels of LittleBigPlanet, and you'll realize their devotion eclipses ours by a pretty large margin. So what, exactly, am I getting at here? Well, in researching Friday's post about the music of Mother, I stumbled upon a collection of YouTube videos that were too cool to keep to myself.

The Devildom String Orchestra (at least, that's what I think the entire group calls itself) is a collection of Japanese musicians that arrange video game and anime music into real, live instrumentations. And they do all of this while wearing extremely creepy masks. The most disturbing thing about this group, though, is that their videos really aren't getting the attention that they should. You can access all of them by going to Tuengxx's YouTube page, but I've highlighted a few of the better ones below for your convenience.

A very nice Chrono Trigger medley.

Meena and Maya's theme from Dragon Quest IV.

And a very nice version of what I believe is one of Final Fantasy V's town themes. As I said, you should probably check them all out.

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Meme of the Moment: Bike Hero

Bob Mackey — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:00:00 GMT

The "Most Creative Use of Free Time" award goes to YouTube user madflux for the following video--and perhaps, for all time. Combining biking, Guitar Hero, an extraordinary amount of planning, and what must have been dozens of takes (he ain't telling), madflux shows us that he takes his fake instrument playing very seriously. And we all benefit from it:

The most astounding part about all of this--to me, anyway--is how the bike rider is able to keep up a consistent tempo (in this case, speed) for all of this to work out. I'll also be astounded if, by the end of the week, Bike Hero isn't turned into a t-shirt, referenced in 1000 lame webcomics, or made the focus of a new reality show on VH-1. Ah, the time before a meme becomes obnoxious. Savor it.

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Gaming Impulse Buys

Bob Mackey — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Gaming is an expensive hobby, and freelance writing is not exactly a lucrative career (no offense to my kind, handsome bosses). So, when it comes to buckling down and buying a game, I tend to split my time between fretting and doing online research for hours on end. But with certain games, something just snaps and shuts down the reason center of my brain--which tends to operate even when I'm drunk. I've fallen victim to the siren song of music games so much that I really should have started to notice a pattern in my life by now. Let me break it down for you:

- 2000: I walk into my nearest Funcoland (coincidentally, the worst name for a business ever), see a new copy of Samba de Amigo and the maracas, and promptly hand over $120 + tax. I had no idea why I was even in the store in the first place.

- 2001: I see an official Konami Dance Dance Revolution bundle featuring the game plus a dance pad. Inexplicably, I find myself buying it. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

- 2005: What's this? Taiko Drum Master? At this point, it had been marked down to twenty bucks, so it's probably my least impulsive impulse buy.

- Today: I get a fat freelancing check in the mail, and my paycheck was just deposited in my bank account last night. I immediately drive to target and purchase Rock Band 2 against my will. IT IS HAPPENING AGAIN

Mind you, I had the common sense to be ashamed of myself. Here I was, on the income of a student and in economically insecure times, buying 200 dollars' worth of fake instruments. When the kindly clerk rung me out, she asked if I was buying it for myself, to which I sheepishly lied, "It's a gift." I don't expect Target to save me from myself, but they don't need to know about my secret shame.

So far, it's been worth it; I've ignored these guitar games for their generally lousy (in my opinion) track selections, but being able to play Weezer, The Cars, The Pixies, etc. is right up my alley. I just hope said alley is nice and warm for when I'm homeless in the future. Also, a place to crap would be nice.

Related Links:

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Praise His Name With Guitar Praise--Or Go to Hell

Bob Mackey — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:00:00 GMT

If your worship of Jesus Christ permeates every level of your life to the point where you must include Him in your fictional guitar playing, your worries can now cease; Guitar Praise, a PC Guitar Hero clone, exists to remove all of the fun from music games forever. Okay, Okay; I know I'm being kind of harsh. To be honest, when it comes to Christian Rock, I'm of the same mind set as King of the Hill's Hank Hill: "You're not making Christianity better, you're just making rock and roll worse." It's totally cool to worship however you want, though Flanders-ized products like this always seem a little disingenuous to me; I'm sure God has better things to do than fret over you playing "My Name Is Jonas" on expert. Still, if you must have this product, it exists. One question, though: just what are you doing on the secular Internet?

If you're wondering just how Praise Hero plays, Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk has written a hands-on report that's obviously not as hateful (or fueled by Catholic school experience) as my own take on the game. One thing I thought was funny, though, was his mention of Guitar Praise's use of gentle encouragement for those who totally suck on toast:

Digital Praise's Guitar Praise - Solid Rock adopts the same concept of "playing" rock tunes on an increasingly difficult level. But it inhabits a gentler world where a bad performance gets you mild clapping and gentle suggestions instead of the raucous boos and catcalls that accompany failure in Guitar Hero.

If you'll excuse me, writing this post has made me hungry. I'm off to go make some nachos, Flanders-style; that's cucumbers with cottage cheese!

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Watcha Listening To: Into the Score

Bob Mackey — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT

I'm a podcast fiend, and if my ears aren't necessary for a task, then they're probably busy listening to something nerdy. So it should come as no surprise that Into the Score is one of the dozen-or-so podcasts I download as soon as a new episode is available. As far as gaming podcasts go, it's completely unique; Into the Score is the only one devoted to the academic study of video game music--but don't let the word "academic" throw you off. A musical layman--like me, for instance--can safely go into an episode of Into the Score and actually learn something. Scary, I know.

Even though I lack the vocabulary to talk about video game music, I've always been obsessed with it. All you need to do is take a look at my iTunes library (though I never let anyone do this) or travel back in time to 1994 when i was making my own Final Fantasy III soundtrack by holding a crummy casette recorder up to my TV's speakers. So, needless to say, I'm consistently amused and educated by every episode of Into the Score. Host Kenley Kristofferson uses each episode to explore a different soundtrack while tying in a discussion about the prevalent musical concept(s) used within said soundtrack. I daresay it's given me greater respect for soundtracks I like, and has even shown me the greatness of soundtracks I wasn't aware of.

But to stop this post from being such an Into the Score love-in, I do have one major problem with each episode: the beginning section. Kenley spends an unnecessary amount of time going over trivia about the game(s) he's covering, even though his audience--who are downloading a niche-within-a-niche podcast--should be well aware of the nerdy details. My brain may just be a repository for information about video games, so this problem could be personal. But even so, my iPod still has the ability to fast forward, so this is hardly an issue worth bitching about.

If you're still interested, go ahead and check out Into the Score. It's edutainmentastic.

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WTFriday: The Mario Paint Music Showcase

Bob Mackey — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Note to readers: WTFriday is a weekly feature where I find something stupid about video games and get you to laugh until it goes away. Please try to forget this is what I normally do every day of the week.

With all the hardcore furor over the recently-released Wii Music, I think it's important to put things into perspective. Luckily for me, someone has already done this: namely, 1UP scribe Jeremy Parish, who made a remarkable amount of sense with a recent blog post. And, on his personal site, he also made a great comparison that I'm going to monopolize for the remainder of my own post:

Have self-proclaimed hardcore gamers always been this hysterical about "non-game" software? I feel like Wii Music is the latest in a long line of toys and apps that Nintendo has been churning out for years; nothing new in the least. Maybe it's because I wasn't lurking in the proper corners of USENET back then, but I really don't remember Mario Paint eliciting so much FUD back in the day; on the contrary, people seemed to love it, and it's still regarded fondly.

Seems sensible enough. But where would we be on WTFriday without something strange and disconcerting? This, my friends, is where Mario Paint comes in. I goofed around with this "game" quite a bit as a child, but little did I know that people were still actively using Mario Paint's composer for both good and evil. There's even a free program, aptly titled Mario Paint Composer, that emulates the game's basic music-making functions while adding a few new features that weren't exactly in demand back in 1992. After all, I doubt Nintendo anticipated an eight year-old reproducing anything like Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames:"

Through the magic of searching YouTube, you can find quite a bit of these amazing compositions; but I suggest you first check out this article from Kezins on the 10 Most Creative Mario Paint Compilations. You'll find music theory--as with anything else--is much more interesting when it involves Mario.

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You Can't UNhear It: Time's Scar

Bob Mackey — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

It's true; the Chrono Cross soundtrack is one of the most ass-kickingest collections of music to ever exist in our unworthy world. And the pinnacle of said soundtrack--at least, in my opinion--is the opening song, "Time's Scar;" Yasunori Mitsuda's stirring mix of wistfulness with a sense of urgency may be the highest point of his career. That's being said, I've probably heard the song hundreds of times in my life; and because I'm such a big fan of Time's Scar--and anything Mitsuda--something very minor about the recording of the song makes me cringe every time I hear it.

Crank up your speakers to 11 and wait for the sound at 00:16.

Did you hear that tiny little thump? It has haunted my dreams for the past decade.

I have no idea what it is, but it certainly can't be part of the composition. Was something being plugged in? Was a music stand kicked over? Did the conductor drop his Big Gulp? Whatever the case, every time I listen to Time's Scar, I tense up until that little thump comes and goes. It's a pretty big blemish on an otherwise awesome recording/song--and if you think I'm being a tad crazy about this, just remember: I wouldn't be a gamer if I didn't get psychotically obsessed over meaningless details.

To calm my nerves, and make you less worried about me, here's an awesome guitar arrangement of Time's Scar that's played using official Procyon Studio (Mitsuda's HQ) sheet music. I would pay for an entire album full of stuff like this:

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The Economist Weighs in On Music Games

Cole Stryker — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:00:00 GMT

A few weeks ago I called out music industry bigwigs at Warner Bros. who were pushing the record company to charge Activision and Harmonix more money to feature songs by bands on their rosters. I argued that this is stupid, and these execs should view music featured in Guitar Hero and Rock Band as free advertising.

Welp, the Economist agrees.

According to Activision Blizzard, the video-game giant behind “Guitar Hero III”, bands whose songs are included in the game can expect online sales of their music to increase by an average of 300% as a result.

Of course, the regressive old school record industry players can't seem to recognize this...yet. The article goes on drop an amazing claim:

Bobby Kotick, Activision’s boss, says Aerosmith have made more money from “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” (pictured above), a version of the video-game that features the band, than from any of their albums.

This is incredible to me. Aerosmith is one of the biggest rock bands of all time. They have huge hits that have garnered them millions across the last thirty years. And now they are making royalties in excess of all that. What is Warner Bros. thinking?

It won't be long before venues like Guitar Hero will be able to bypass record labels entirely, going straight to the artist.

Little Big Planet Meets FFX

Bob Mackey — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:00:00 GMT

I'll admit that I'm not very hyped about Little Big Planet; it could be the curmudgeon in me, or just the fact that I'll have no goddamned time to create anything cool with the game on my busy schedule. The silver lining to all of this is that I won't need to plunk down the cash for both a PS3 and a copy of the game to be entertained--all I need to experience LBP's user-created content is the entirely-free YouTube. Expect the majority online streaming video services to be completely loaded with content from Little Big Planet for the next year or so.

A good example of this trend of this already in action is the following video, which takes the best part of Final Fantasy X--the music--and transplants it into a baroque music player created through hours and hours of hard work and block placement in Little Big Planet. Sure, I can hear the same thing by looking this song up on iTunes, but I gotta give credit to all of the makeshift music box crafters out there:

Now, if someone out there would somehow turn Little Big Planet into a rhythm game using the same technology, I'd be motivated to smash in the window of my local GameStop and steal a brand-new PS3.

What? I still won't have any money.

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The One Thing I Know How To Say: "Thank You Mario..."

Derrick Sanskrit — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:00:00 GMT

John Darnielle is already a friend of Nerve, and now we know that he is a friend of gamers as well. John's musical project The Mountain Goats just released their new single "Thank You Mario, But Our Princess Is In Another Castle," a hauntingly delicate ballad from the perspective of an imprisoned Toad in Super Mario Bros. featuring Kaki King on drum, glockenspiel and backup vocals. Beautiful.

We'll forgive the fact that John references Magikoopas, who didn't appear until Super Mario World, by which point Toads were no longer held captive at the end of each world. The song is just too sweet and heart-touching to get caught up in nerd details.

Thanks again to our friends over at Pitchfork for sharing this bit of game-related beauty with us.

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Rockman Lucky Star

Nadia Oxford — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:41:00 GMT

Ewww, who stunk up the blog with religion and serious crap?...Oh, it was me. Sorry guys. Friday is not for thinking. Friday is for sillies, especially Fridays that herald the looong weekend. I'm gonna drink a beer and get so drunk.

And by "a beer" I mean fifty.

I don't think I'd want to live in a world without silly anime dances. I don't know how many of you are fans of Lucky Star (I personally haven't seen it yet), but the adorable Mega Man parody of the opening can be appreciated no matter your alignment. There's some impressive sprite work to be had. Bonus footage of Gravity Man flipping Roll and Kalinka upside-down.

It's not quite what you think. Sorry. Lord, the whole thing is very innocent.

I wish you the best long weekend ever.

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