We lost two major pop culture icons today.  Farrah Fawcett passed this morning after a long bout with cancer, and Michael Jackson passed this afternoon after suffering a cardiac arrest.

I’m in total shock.  I was too young to get into the Farrah phase back in the 70s, but I respected her iconic status.  As for Michael Jackson – I’ve always enjoyed his music despite what went on in the rest of his life.  I’ll be listening to a couple of his albums over the next couple of days.  I think “Thriller” is still his best album, and probably the best pop album ever.  The video for “Thriller” is still my all-time favorite music video.

Rest in peace, both of you.

Greetings, Key Masters and Gate Keepers!

With the northern hemisphere less than a week away from entering into that official seasonal agreement with Mr. Sun called summer I realized that while a lot of folks will be going on vacations from work or enjoying non-school, my schedule will most likely be a little busier than it usually is throughout the rest of the year.  So, you may see more “Meetings” over the next several weeks over my slightly longer “Office” installments.  Of course, this makes the introduction of the new series “The Don Says…” even more convenient and special.

For today’s “Meeting” topic, I have only one thing I wanna talk about:

“Ghostbusters: The Video Game”

Now, this isn’t a full review.  I plan on doing a full review at some point, but I want to get at least halfway through the game before I do so.  No, this is just my initial impression of the game since it dropped yesterday.

My first impression: Marvin the Martian, when I was ten.

My initial impression of this game: Holy crap, I was giggling like a boy who saw the first movie for the first time.

Seriously, this game is instant fun right out of the case.  I mean, you get to bust ghosts!  With the original Ghostbusters!  Voiced by their original actors!  Or, you can do what I did and skip the single player mode and go right into the online multiplayer.  I ended up busting ghosts for almost two hours with our fellow Spwugnerian Krellion and another friend of ours.  Two hours!  And I’ve never been a fan of online multiplayer anything.

After our two hour ectoplasmic bug hunt, I did end up switching back over to the single player mode in order to see how it stands up.  I have to say, I’m really impressed.  It starts out just like you’re watching the movie – it opens with the Columbia Pictures logo, followed by the “cold opening”, which in turn go right into the opening theme song and the Ghostbusters logo we all know and love.  I have to admit, I got giddy when I saw this, and I hadn’t even started playing yet.

After a brief tutorial by Dr. Raymond Stantz himself and a little exploration of the fire house (There are easter eggs scattered all over the place in this game!  Look for the Sorrow of Moldavia and hear what he has to say.), I eventually joined back up with the rest of the GBs as we packed up, regrouped, got a grip, came equipped, grabbed our proton packs out the back and we split in the Ecto 1-B.  Our first job?  Back to the Sedgwick Hotel!

At that point it was incredible.  I felt like I was literally inserted into the film and interacting with these characters that I have loved since I first saw Ghostbusters (even the original Elmer Bernstein score plays throughout the game).  We were wandering around the halls of the hotel looking for ghosts.  You even get to select a mode where you get to wear the infrared goggles and used the PKE meter to search for full-torso apparitions!

I don’t wanna give too much more away, partly because I haven’t gotten that far into the game yet.  I will say that I haven’t gotten this excited about a movie tie-in game in a long time.  I have already found myself at work wishing I was at home busting ghosts.

I want to address one issue that I have seen pop up repeatedly in the regards to this game before I tidy up.  There has been some mudslinging towards the PS3 version of this game in comparison to the Xbox 360 version.  One site in particular (I don’t want to name names) gave the PS3 version a hard thrashing, including screen caps that did make it appear like the PS3 version of “Ghostbusters” was indeed greatly inferior to the 360 port.

I can tell you after playing my copy for the PS3 that those reports are crap.  This game looks great on the PS3.  I’m not sure where those screen caps came from (word is that they are from an early, unfinished demo), but the real deal looks miles better than we’re lead to believe.  Yes, I will admit that the 360 graphics do look slightly better in some regards.  But, the differences are so minimal that anyone who has this for the PS3 will not feel like they just got kicked in the wolfman nards.  So relax, folks – you’ll be just fine with whatever platform you chose to get this game for.

Unless you get it for the PS2.  I mean, really.  Who still gets games for that system?

The Don never studied.  He had the Cliff Notes.

Greetings, Lunataks!

Remember how sad and annoying it was when Hollywood and Televisionland decided that remakes were the sure-fire way to go when it comes to making butt-loads money?

Remember those days fondly, because the new money-making scheme is called “the reboot”.

Birthed partly out of the fallout of last year’s writer’s strike, reboots are an attempt to breathe new life into a dying or dead franchise while making a quick buck – either by offering a brand new installment of an existing series with geriatric versions of our protagonists still trying to prove their mettle while popping daily doses of Centrum Silver or simply by throwing out everything that was beloved by fans of the original source material and creating an antimatter version of that material from scratch.  Several shows and films we grew up with have been popping up allover the radar with varying levels of success within the past year.  While Stallone was able to deliver a one-two punch last year (technically one of them came out just before 2008 started, but the receipts carried into 2008) with both of his surprisingly well done attempts – Rocky Balboa and Rambo, other properties – like Indiana Jones and “The X-Files” – were received much like one would when they find out for the first time that their horse is lame and would be served better keeping glitter and cotton balls stuck to construction paper.  Same thing has been happening on television.  “90210”?  Back and apparently a hit (I gotta scratch my head on that one).  The new “Knight Rider”?  Dismantled.

The trend continues this year, as three different reboots have already made their way into theaters – Friday the 13^th, Star Trek, and Terminator: Salvation.  I’ve covered the first two on this site already.  For the most part, both of them have proven to be pretty damn good and each one has gone on to make some decent bank at the box office (which, unfortunately, means that the “powers-that-be” will continue to milk this strategy until our children’s children are watching “Re-Lost” and The Bourne Resurrection).

So, how does Salvation measure up?

First off, there was a fair amount of controversy before the movie even completed its first set of dailies.  From script re-writes that had to be halted due to last year’s writers strike to the original ending getting leaked to the film’s star going on a YouTube-captured tirade, Salvation was already at a disadvantage going into production.

As a result, the finished film has its faults.  There are some plot holes that are quite noticeable, especially after you take a moment to think back on the film after the credits start to roll.  The “new” ending feels tacked on, especially if you were able to catch the details of what the original ending was going to be from one of those popular movie sites.  Some character motivations don’t quite make sense.  Our main character and leader of the resistance feels forced into the plot.

Here’s the funny thing – even after giving all of that some serious consideration, I don’t care.  If there’s one great thing McG has done with this new Terminator franchise, it’s giving fans and casual movie-goers two hours of fleshbags vs. machines in a constant whir of non-stop action.  And I had an extraordinarily large amount of fun watching it.

The acting wasn’t bad, either.  Of special note – Anton Yelchin, fresh off his stint piloting a space wessel, does an incredible job channeling Michael Biehn in his performance of Kyle Reese.  That’s not to say that the other actors weren’t as good.  Sam Worthington delivered a solid performance as a man who isn’t what he thinks he is.  Moon Bloodgood (is she a D&D character?) held her own as well.  And you can never go wrong with Michael Ironside in your film.

Then there’s the extra, little nuances that McG added to the film to sweeten the fun.  An uncredited Linda Hamilton lends her voice as Sarah Connor to a couple of key scenes.  John Connor plays a familiar song over a boom box on the highway to draw out a couple of terminator-cycles.  The photograph of Sarah Connor makes a welcome appearance.  The origin of John’s face scar from T2.  And of course, the return of Arnold – the evil T-800 version (with original hairstyle!) – in a brief battle scene.

Oh, and then there’s a pleasant surprise – a Danny Elfman score that actually doesn’t sound anything like any of his other scores.  I watched the movie listening closely to the orchestral tones that accompanied each frame of celluloid.  Not once did I hear any of Elfman’s familiar cues or chord progressions.  In fact, I had to check the closing credits just to make sure I saw the opening credits correctly.  Yup, Danny Elfman did the score for Salvation.  And he managed to compose an impressive collection of companion pieces that actually sounded original.  Well done.

After mixing all of the above ingredients together, Terminator: Salvation ends up being a sum of equal parts crap and awesome.  Well, not really.  All of the elements that are really well done that make the movie fun and exciting end up tipping the balance in favor of being a good summer action flick to watch.  As I said before, even with the obvious problems the movie has, it still didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed it.  I walked out of that theater really looking forward to the next chapter of the war vs. the machines.

Unfortunately, the box office for Terminator: Salvation hasn’t been great, which means that the potential for a sequel looks grim.  And not grim like you’re-the-future-leader-of-the-resistance grim.  No, this is more like we’re-gonna-be-watching-Twitter:The Movie instead-of-original-films-or-even-remakes-or-reboots grim (don’t laugh – a Twitter project is in the works).

In the end, what we’re left with is a Catch-22: if Salvation does well enough at the box office we’ll end up getting another fun sequel.  Maybe two.  But, with that success on top of the success of Star Trek Hollywood gets further validation that reboots work and that’s what we end up seeing for the next fifteen years.  On the other hand… well, actually there is no other hand.  No matter how well Terminator performs Hollywood probably already has it in their head that reboots are a new cash cow and will be milking the teats raw on that concept for quite some time.

Time to go program my TiVo in advance for the “ER” reboot (coming to NBC fall of 2023!)

The Don will be back… and in greater numbers.

Greetings, Thermians!

We are living in a time where video games have become a legitimate source of entertainment alongside television and film.  People of all ages, genders, races and Apollo creeds enjoy video and computer gaming, bringing us a long way from the days where mullet-haired garage-dwellers would escape from their dark, nerd caves for a spell so that they could spend hours upon hours in another dark cave full of flashing lights and pixilated escapades.

I’m just poking fun.  There’s really no such thing as a mullet.

The impact that video games have had on our culture is multi-faceted.  One element of that impact is something that most of your casual gamers might not immediately think of.  Just as the graphics, storylines and amount of content in video games have evolved from the four stage, girder-scaling adventures of a carpenter trying to save his lady friend, so has the music of video games evolved from the “bleep bloop”, “pyew pyew” sounds of the same era.

To that end, video game soundtracks have become almost a phenomenon (do do, de do do!) by themselves.  And two guys have taken that surging popularity and baked it into a cake of glorious melodies just for you.

Their finished confection of sweet, sugary goodness is called Video Games Live.

Created by Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico, Video Games Live unveiled itself upon the world in 2005, and has done nothing but gain momentum to quickly become a world-renown concert series.  Both creators are pulling from over twenty years of composing video game music to bring fans and curious listeners alike an extremely lively and unique experience.  From Sonic the Hedgehog to Halo to Medal of Honor to Kingdom Hearts, these guys utilize each venue’s local symphony to put on one hell of a show.

One of the coolest aspects of a VGL (not to be confused with VPL – if you don’t know what that is, ask a teacher or a life guard for help) concert is that every show has a different line-up of compositions, with each one accompanied by footage of the video game it comes from projected on a giant video screen behind the orchestra.  The consistent change-up of their set lists at each venue ensures that each concert is a unique experience.  This ensures that Video Games Live offers plenty of replay value.

The concert I saw in Richmond included this line-up of musical selections (with short commentary by me):

Classic Arcade

This piece kicked off the night perfectly.  It was practically a history of the early classics.  Starting off with PONG (yes, you read that right), this first medley covered everything from Space Invaders to Dragon’s Lair to Tetris.  An incredible trip down memory lane.

Metal Gear Solid

This one got the crowds going nuts.  All of the major themes from the Metal Gear series swelling with energy and fervor.  Meanwhile, a sneaky little box on stage tries to get past an enemy guard.  Yes, and exclamation mark does appear over his head in alarm.

God of War

I have to admit – I’ve never played this game, though I know of it.  After hearing the incredible themes being played like a cross between Clash of the Titans and Gladiator, accompanied by the awesome footage from the games, I think I really want to play this series.

Space Invaders

The first of two segments that include audience participation.  Someone from the audience was selected to come up on stage and wear a t-shirt with the ship from the game on the back.  Then, armed with only a button to fire, the poor soul had to move back and forth to move the ship on screen and try to clear the first wave of enemies in two minutes while the orchestra played the Jaws-like theme.  He didn’t make it, but he still got some cool swag.  The rest of the audience got to experience what makes this concert especially fun.

Sonic

Who doesn’t love Sonic the Hedgehog?  They included songs from each game in the series, with the appropriate footage behind.  I’ve always been partial to a turtle-stomping plumber, myself, but there’s no denying that this segment was a fun ride.

Civilization IV

I have to admit, I’m not all that familiar with this game.  The music was great, but I found myself getting bored halfway into it.  There’s only so much game footage of buildings being built that one man can take.

Final Fantasy Piano Solo

Remember that guy on YouTube who played the Super Mario Medley super fast while blindfolded?  Yep, Martin Leung performs as part of the concert tour.  And yes, he’s just as fast in person, no tricks.  So suck it, non-believers!  Man, he kicked ass.

Metroid

One of my favorite video game series.  This segment was a nice combination of all the haunting sci-fi themes used from the NES game all the way to the Wii game.

Zelda

What else is there to say here?  It’s frikkin’ ZELDA.  You want some classic orchestral melodies, this is where you start.  Which way to go?

Intermission

Yay!  We get to pee!  Stretch our legs!  Buy overpriced refreshments and merchandise!  And all the while the screen keeps track of the fifteen minute break with what looks like a loading bar.  Outstanding.

Kingdom Hearts

This was a very warm and heartfelt piece, as the orchestra incorporated an instrumental version of “Simple and Clean” throughout the composition.  Sadly, SquareSoft won’t allow usage of any game footage for this.  So, the clever composers use footage of Disney works.  And with permission too.  Never thought I’d see the day Disney would pull a move cooler than a Japanese company.

Sonic

Sonic returns with more music!  Hey!  Where’s the mustachioed one?

Warcraft

A magnificent combination of battle music, it almost made me reconsider playing online RPGs.  Yeah, then my senses remembered what soul-sucking is and kicked back in.

Mario

There he is!  The original Jumpman finally gets his due during the concert with a finely-selected medley of his best themes.  Sadly, not enough footage of SMB 3.

Mario Piano Solo

Okay, I feel better.  Two for Sonic and two for Mario.  This time though, Martin Leung comes back out to show all you still-skeptics how it’s done in the hood… of stage right.

Chrono Cross/Chrono Trigger

Ah.  I love this game.  Playing it on my DS currently.  Wonderful themes, though it sounded like they played more Cross themes than Trigger.

Interactive Guitar Hero

This was the coolest segment of the whole show.  There was a Guitar Hero tournament before the concert.  The winner got to come up on stage and play Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” on the screen on Hard difficulty while the orchestra played the song with guitar back-up by Tallarico himself.  The challenge – score 200,000 points.  The kid decided to go one step further and play it on Expert.  He scored over 250,000 points, the best anyone has ever done at any of the VGL shows to date.  He is my Guitar Hero.

Halo Suite and Halo 3

An impressive collection of music from the Halo series, immediately followed by music from the third installment.  I kept hoping for footage from Red vs. Blue.

One Winged Angel

A great rendition of the popular piece from Final Fantasy VII.  The choir was awe-inspiring.  Sadly, I’m still burned out from how overplayed this piece was back in the late ‘90s.

Castlevania Rock

Oh man.  Most of you know how big a Castlevania fan I am.  For me, this final segment was the oh-so-sweet cherry on an already delectable hot fudge sundae.  I think I was touched with the glossolalia at one point.  It was glorious.  But don’t take it from me.  Judge for yourself:

At the end of the concert, the fans started to filter out for the meet-and-greet.  As I made my way to the exit, one thought came to mind, and it was a strong one:

I need to go home and play all my favorite games that were featured tonight.  It was a strong and intense feeling, one that could not have been stirred up within me so easily.  And yet, these two master composers managed to do just that – they created an experience so incredible that it inspires fans to go back and revisit the games they love.  These guys are truly wizards.

I plan on going back for another dose of that magic.

The Don made it to the kill screen.  That is, he got killed on the first screen.

Greetings, Scoobs!

As I write this, I just got home from a really long day at work.  So, I’m really not up to doing a full edition of “Office” today.  Plus, I’d rather keep the subject of today’s “Meeting” short and sweet because it’s a tribute to a talented actor/singer who was taken from us too soon.

Some of you may be familiar with the TV show “Angel”.  The spin-off of Joss-fan favorite “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel” quickly found its own place in the hearts of fans everywhere, becoming one of the most popular vampire shows to air on television.  I am still a huge fan of both shows, and continue to enjoy the stories Joss is currently crafting in the new season installments featured in each show’s comic book counterparts (and it’s canon!).

One of my favorite characters from “Angel” was Lorne (Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan), the eccentric, slightly effeminate, psychic demon who ran a karaoke bar and was from the alterna-dimension world of Pylea.  He added a nice balance of character in comparison to the other characters on the show, starting off as just an informer and eventually becoming a full-fledged member of the team.  He was quick with the dry wit, could make you smile just from his general charm, and could sing just as good as he could read the patrons of his bar when they took the mic.

The character started off as a recurring role at the beginning of season two, and managed to last for the duration of the series, eventually becoming a main cast member by season four.  The actor who portrayed him, Andy Hallett, started off as a runner for an agency before he eventually found himself singing in a revue.  It was there that Joss Whedon discovered him.  The part of Lorne was conceived by Whedon with Hallett in mind.  Andy tried out for the part and got it, giving Angel fans a new demon character to croon over.

“Angel” ended after five seasons, and Hallett decided to pursue his singing career, while at the same time making many appearances at sci-fi and “Angel”-themed conventions.  The buzz was that he was always a gracious and friendly guest, a delight to talk to and a favorite of fans.

Over the past five years, Andy Hallett had been suffering from heart disease, a result of which saw him hospitalized a few times during the five year battle.  Sadly, Andy’s life was cut short this past Sunday at the age of thirty-three due to congestive heart failure.  It’s a tragedy that such a talented actor and singer was taken from us too soon.

Because of that, I want to close this week’s “Meeting” by sharing with you all a great example of just how talented Andy Hallett was.  I wanted to attach a video of Andy as Lorne singing “It’s Not Easy Being Green”.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find a copy that hadn’t already been removed due to copyright.

Instead, I offer you a different number.  This one showcases his singing, as well as his acting abilities.  Plus, it’s probably a better choice, anyway, as it’s an upbeat number.  I think he probably would have preferred it that way.  At least, Lorne would have.

So, without further ado… Andy Hallett as Lorne singing “Lady Marmalade”:

The Don raises his glass to Andy Hallett.  Pack the house, Andy.

So last week, I realized my post was getting on in length and decided to split it up into two parts, this, being the second. As you may recall, we were discussing game music composition. A blogger over on Destructoid had written extensively on the downfall of game music, and I use this as a forum to say, “Not so, my fellow appreciator of the arts!” …But what am I doing? That post is only a few entries down at this point, so if you aren’t with me, scroll down and read it, ya lazy bums.

Everyone up to speed? Good. So this week I’d like to take some time to discuss some specific examples of composers I think are doing it right, and I’m not even going to depend on the examples I already provided last week to do so. All of my choices come from games released in (the states in) 2008, further proving that game music is not in fact, less interesting than it used to be.

But what do I mean by “doing it right?” A lot of things. Firstly, the music stands on it’s own from the game as a work of art in and of itself. If someone were to listen to it outside of the game’s context, while perhaps being unable to grasp the significance in its entirety, the listener can appreciate the music. This is of course, speaking regardless of genre preferences and simply appreciating music for what it is.

Secondly, the music added to the game’s presentation value. I’ll explain. Some moments in gaming wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for the seemingly innocuous music in the background fueling the player’s emotions. A battle hard fought and won, a gripping scene in an RPG, or a section of the game meant to induce panic – Yes, a ticking timer can do that alone, but what the player rarely realizes is how much the music is contributing to that heightened state of experience and response. That is, if the music is doing its job.

Third and finally, and this is important, is that the soundtrack as a whole is cohesive. This is what I was talking about last week: Composers who step forward in a game and introduce their own style. A single, stand-out song won’t cut it. I mean that every track does its job to contribute to a whole, whether that be via certain instrumentation, a single person’s voice, or a leitmotif that runs throughout the work.

But enough criteria. On with the show. My first example is a relative unknown, a man named Yoshito Hirano. So unknown, in fact, that he doesn’t even have his own page on wikipedia! But a quick googling reveals thus: Hirano is a composer for Intelligent Systems, a sub-dev of Nintendo. He participated in the scoring for a number of notable games, including Smash Brothers and Fire Emblem, but my case in point, as the sole composer for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Say what you will about the game – I didn’t think it had half the heart of its predecessors – but the music in that game was literally a driving factor in my desire to complete the story mode. This is Proud Soldier – Gage. Hit play, and keep reading.

As he has done throughout the series, Hirano roots Advance Wars in heavy metal and layers on the melodies from there. Well, it’s as metal as the Nintendo DS can get, anyway. But my hat goes off to him for Days of Ruin, where I think his themes for each of the characters help to define them in ways the game couldn’t even do through dialog.  Not only that, they make one of the slowest moving genres ever, the Strategy RPG, feel like it’s all occurring at breakneck speed. His cuts inspire the player to strategize, but to do so at the speed of war.  I would love to see this soundtrack fully realized by a Japanese rock band.

Also check out: Flight of the Coward – Waylon

The second guy I’m offering up has picked up slightly more mainstream notoriety, because he worked on the soundtrack to one of the most mainstream RPGs on the Sony PSP – Takeharu Ishimoto, for Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Anyone who says the music at Square-Enix died when Uematsu left obviously hasn’t played Crisis Core. Ishimoto has only recently stepped up from being a synthesizer programmer for Square into a full-fledged composer, and his debut has been nothing short of ground breaking. This is “Under the Apple Tree.”

It’s hard to call anything ground breaking in a series that has gone above and beyond the saturation point and is now being milked for all it’s worth. But I think the best part of what Ishimoto did for this title was bring his own game to the plate. Let’s face it: We’ve heard the tunes of Final Fantasy VII remixed, recycled, and reiterated over and over ever since Square-Enix realized how much money the now 10 year old FF7 can pull in from the fans. As one of those fans myself, I think it’s safe to say we’re tired of it.

What Ishimoto did, though, was breathe life into a tired soundtrack. He took the FF7 tracks and made them sit under HIS schematic of twangy, acoustic guitars, singing violins, and a theme exclusive to Crisis Core that runs throughout the game, overpowering the Uematsu melodies. A ballsy move to be certain, and one that paid off in spades. You don’t mess with those themes unless you’re going to get them right. But by the time we’d heard the numerous iterations of this tune, I doubt many of us cared what he did with Aeris’s theme, and I for one, forgot all about the dude with the silver hair.

Also check out: The Price of Freedom, Night of Seclusion

Looks like I’m already going over my self-imposed line here, but my final shout out is to Simon Viklund, composer and creative director for Bionic Commando: Rearmed, a downloadable throwback to better times on PS3 and Xbox 360. Talk about a soundtrack that is both 100% faithful to the source material as well as being a complete modernization. It has to be heard to be believed.  I know for fact that the Rearmed soundtrack is available on Itunes.

I’ve grown into this habit of skimming gaming blogs to get my fix of industry news and updates. It seems to be the most efficient way of keeping up with things for the average, avid gamer. Sometimes I see articles that really catch my eye, and now, I am in turn writing about one such occasion.

Destructoid.com, more of a gamer’s community than a blog, posted a fan-written article by a guy calling himself Tascar, entitled, “Thoughts on why video game music might seem less interesting or good as it used to be.” Tascar could use a lesson in title brevity, but if it would interest you to read the entire article, (it is worth it, despite being somewhat organizationally challenged) check that out here. I’m gonna summarize his points, though, for those too lazy to do that.

Tascar provides two main reasons why video game music nowadays just isn’t what it used to be. These are in his words:

1. The role of music as a means of telling a story, developing characters, or establishing the world environment has decreased over the years in favor of graphics and voice acting.

2. The advent of large storage media has freed and many composers from the limitations of sound chips but in turn has pigeon-holed many other composers into pursuing a particular “sound” and in turn ruining the uniqueness of videogame music.

I agree 100% with his first point. The characters of a game have stolen the show from the music. They have voices now, more than six frames of animation, and facial expressions that do a better job telling their story than music can. As a result, the music of games takes a background role. It’s still there to provide ambience, and occasionally, swells to the forefront to convey the general emotion of an epic battle or a resolute speech.

As much as we can mourn for the good old days, that is its job now. I’m not sure how much sensory overload, and Tascar points this out too, we would have if both the characters and the music were carrying the emotion of the game at the same time. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t trade the voice acting and character animations for the scores of yesteryear.

Square-Enix’s last genre-dominating foray from its flagship series, Final Fantasy XII, is a perfect example of what game music is now. Composer Hitoshi Sakimoto has some strong tracks that do the talking when they need to – but to listen to the four-disc soundtrack set is to commit to taking a nap. The majority of the pieces here are background music akin to a film score, another comparison Tascar is quick to point out somewhere beneath the blanket of his second hypothesis up there. Speaking on his disappointment with Harry Gregson-Williams’ contribution to the Metal Gear Solid series, he says, “…it is yet another example of a trend in videogames where developers are continuously abandoning the unique ideas and principles developed over the years in gaming in order to chase down, pursue, and ripoff what Hollywood has done.”

Again, I agree with his point here, but couldn’t disagree more with the medium he chose to use it on – I think Gregson-Williams’ score to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater stands out as one of the best overall soundtracks of the PS2 generation. I’ve also gotta ask: What unique ideas and principles are being abandoned in this soundtrack, or even in general?

Overall, his second point is where he starts to lose me, and I think maybe he even got lost himself. He praises composers like Nobou Uematsu for branching out into more of a rock sound (evident in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children), Yasunori Mitsuda for his work on the Xenosaga series and its distinctive sound, and the Martin O’Donnell/Michael Salvatori team for their work on Halo, but comes down on the western sound of Metal Gear for being too film like.

Where is the line drawn? When does the fact that a game’s soundtrack resembles that of a film become such a bad thing? There have been excellent, and very unique film scores in the last decade, and video game composers would do well to follow in their footsteps, of course, in so much that they create a sound unique to the game, unique to what already exists, and unique in that it grips the player when it needs to as quality work.

I happen to like when game composers pursue a particular sound and make it their own, and I fail to see (and Tascar fails to explain) how that pursuit ruins the uniqueness of game music. I think it’s quite the opposite. The freedom from the sound chip limitations have only made game music that much more original.

Based on the “sound” alone, I could probably tell you in a few notes if a piece belongs to game composer Michuru Yamane, known for her work in the Castlevania series. Not only has she used some very distinctive instrumentation and styles, but her work has often been the saving grace of the series as far as reviews go, who have nothing but praise for her and lamentations for the games themselves.

Shoji Meguro, who often collaborates with vocal artists as well as contributes his own work to the Persona series and other titles in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, also has a very distinctive sound. Ask any avid SMT fan to listen to the soundtrack to Trauma Center: Second Opinion, a game entirely different in style and delivery, and I would put money on an identification of Meguro as the composer in under 10 seconds based on style alone.

What I’m trying to say to Tascar is that freedom from the sound chip and wider storage capacity doesn’t instantly mean the composer is going to go straight for that Hollywood feel. I think he knows this, but that’s about the point in his article where it got a little fuzzy. I’ve only listed two composers, but there are so many others out there who, when the chains broke for them at their various companies, they took flight and soared with their compositions.

I’m sure some developers have probably specifically said, “Let’s go Hollywood” on this. Bad on them. But for Tascar’s own examples, plus my own, it’s hard to say that video game music isn’t as good or as interesting as it used to be. Changed, yes. But that’s only because developers have the freedom to make that choice, now that the sound chip limitations and storage space isn’t an issue any more. It’s called progress. Just as we didn’t appreciate every piece of 8-bit music that was composed, nor will we do so now. And the broader range of it all gives us even more to look forward to as the composers are able to add such a great deal of flavor to the games we love.

Next Time: I’ll conclude this little commentary be providing a few concrete examples of some works by composers who have really defined their own style in game music and made the genre all the better for it. If you’ve got anyone you want me to check out before then, drop a line.

Greetings, Thuggees!

Today’s tale begins with a lone warrior.  His physical preparations for his journey are complete and his hunger has been sated.  It is now time for our intrepid hero to embark on his trip to Mars.  This year, the red planet promises to offer up the sights and sounds of technologies from a bygone era – items and inventions of steam and punkish glory that lie in wait to be rediscovered by this courageous explorer.

Our protagonist makes his final preparations to board his vessel, his mind awash in shades of rampant imagination.  His heart beats with excitement.  There is eagerness in each step.

But… something is wrong.  In the shadows a silent, evil visitor waits to strike!  He descends upon our intergalactic champion with speed and cunning.  Before the space warrior can react, the evil one strikes!  As the dust settles and the air clears, all that remains is our fallen hero – a victim of The Shadowstone.

Hi.  I’m The Don and I’m here to talk to you about a serious issue.  Our friend above fell prey to the evil Shadowstone, but there is something more sinister in real life that we should all be aware of: kidney stones.  They don’t attack you like in our story above, but are just as dangerous to your health.  They can grow inside your kidneys and hurt really bad!  So be careful kids, and avoid kidney stones.  You can read more about them at your local library.  Until next time…

So yeah, I was on my way to Marscon and a frelling kidney stone decided it didn’t like my recent decision to start exercising so that I can start writing these articles as The Thin Don.

Luckily, the stone took pity on me after hearing my pathetic cries and left me after only a couple of hours.  I wasn’t able to make it to the convention Friday night, but I sure as hell flew my vessel drove my car to the con Saturday and Sunday.

And here lies the essence of this piece – a short and sweet Marscon report.

There isn’t much to tell.  And to be honest, that’s actually a good thing.  One of the things I love about Marscon is that it’s a small con – a Relaxicon (patent pending), if you will.

Danny Valentini (my partner-in-crime at 2wcOnline) and I were asked back this year to be guests because our web comic The Draconia Chronicles is the quickest gunslinger in the west (never lost a draw, they say!).  And since all of our perpetual lies about The Draconia Chronicles being the quickest gun in the west seemed to have fooled folks into offering us guest status at a convention, we heartily accepted!

We found out late in the game that we had a web comics panel Friday night, another one Saturday morning, and one more Sunday morning.  Now, I can’t vouch for Friday (stupid Shadowstone kidney stone), but Danny says that it was a decent turn-out with some great discussion.  And I believe him, you betcha!

Saturday morning’s panel was fun.  It was still a little too early for a Saturday, but between the awesome group of people that showed up and the excellent variety of topics that were covered; I think it was a very productive morning.

Sunday was a short day.  The crowd for that 10 AM panel was the smallest of the weekend, yet we still managed to enjoy ourselves with crazy talk for an hour.

Now, you’re probably yawning at this point and wondering when I’m gonna get on with the run-down of the con itself.  The truth is, it seemed the convention was a little light this year, in attendance, as well as in use of theme.  The theme for Marscon this year was all things steampunk.  And to be honest?  I didn’t see that many congoers suited up in the theme.  In fact, I didn’t see that many costumes at all this year.  There were the different Stormtroopers running around, but they had a panel on “How to Make a Stormtrooper Costume”.  It would be kinda silly to do a panel and not wear a costume as an example.

There was an incredibly cool, homemade George Pal Time Machine sitting in the lobby that you could sit in.  Otherwise, the theme didn’t seem to be all that present.  I’ve been to a few Marscons in the past.  When they did the pirate theme or the super hero theme, you can bet that there were lots of costumes running around in support.  Even the Con Suite was done up in themed decoration for previous years.  This year, the theme just fell short.

That’s not to say the con was a dud.  Not at all.  I have to admit, the lighter attendance was a welcome change, as finding a parking space in at the small hotel was a blessing.  The panels that I was able to attend (or be a part of) were fun, as they always seem to be.  The display tables (such as the Lego folks) were a fun distraction on the way to wherever you happen to be going.  The band that Marscon has every year – Coyote Run – never fails to entertain.  The same goes for comedy troupe Luna-C.

And then there’s the Rocky Horror live production, put on by Norfolk’s own Fishnet Inc.  It has become a tradition in recent years for Danny and me to stay up late Saturday night to witness this fun-filled spectacle.  The Fishnet crew never disappoints.

And I think that’s the important thing to make clear here – even though the con felt light in theme and attendance, it’s never light in substance.  There’s always plenty to do, even if that just means you get to hang out with friends you only get to see at conventions or you get to talk to that uberfan who loves your web comic and will gladly talk to you about it for hours, reigniting your excitement for it amidst your hazy, sleep-deprived brain.

That’s why I love Marscon, and that’s why I’ll gladly go back there every year – whether I’m asked to be a guest or not.  It’s a con where I get to have fun, relax and just enjoy myself.

But next time, I’m training my kidneys to kick ass and take initials.  They don’t have time to take full names.

The Don is not a “stoney individual”, no matter what Pauly Shore says.

Happy New Year, Spwug!

Man, do I wish I had a working camera last weekend. Magfest 7 was a five-day bash in Alexandria VA to start 2009. From the ball drop to the Sunday zombie march out of the Hilton, it was wall-to-wall-to-wall-to-wall gaming, music and comraderie!

(0) BUT FIRST, BREAKING NEWS.

-According to reports that went out today — Electronic Gaming Monthly, a 20-year veteran magazine, and one of the most well known gaming publications out there, will launch it’s final issue this month.

EGM, and parts of 1UP.com were sold by it’s parent company Ziff-Davis to UGO to stave off it’s losses, after filing for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection last year. Simply put, UGO now owns 1UP.com, and maintains that the website’s features will remain, but the side effect was EGM’s sudden conclusion.

This blogger remembers vividly the first issue he’d seen in 7th grade — a blitzkrieg of gaming news and info in the heyday of 1990, when Mega Man 3 graced it’s cover. I had no idea just how deep the well of video games ran, and EGM was the light on my helmet. Yeah, Gamepro is still shambling along, and I still have a dusty pile of GameFan magazines laying around, but there was an air of legitimacy with EGM. If it wasn’t covered by EGM — and what wasn’t in that magazine? –then it must not have been good. Time sure have changed, but I sincerely hope those dedicated folks are able to bounce back and find a new mag — or build an even better one.

(1) MAGFEST 7 GAMING, or CRYBRINGER’S CAVE-TASTIC WEEKEND.

Old friend I hadn’t seen in years, much old and new school gaming, and another fantastic performance by The Smash Brothers describes my overall experience with Magfest 7. But honestly, my MISSION as soon as the cabinets got turned on were THESE. I finally got to play three of the most popular shoot-em’-ups by CAVE/AMI! The original arcade boards, in full glorious stereo sound, rich graphical detail, and housed in modern seated cabinets. All three games were runaway hits at the con, bringing in a constant stream of players, and rousing exclaimations of “OMG” or “How can you DODGE that!? That’s ridiculous!” If you’ve read my previous posts, I’d made mention of one or more before. But with several loops and about six hours of total play under my belt, I’m a changed man.

Mushihimesama:

-I’ve actually had a BRIEF run in with the import PS2 release of Mushi, but hardly cracked the first stage. Having done two full runs on both Normal & Maniac difficulties, I can say this is about as pure a vertical shooter as you can get. The title Mushihime (Insect Princess) character Reko has three types of weapons (normal vulcan, wide shot and focused beams,) with two flavors of helpers that either shadow her movements or form up on either side. Said helpers fire long lasers that compliment the main weapon. Tapping the fire button, as most modern shmups do, means faster movement. Holding the button gives a constant stream of firepower with slower movements to get through the stickiest of enemy salvos. Mushihimesama is five decently sized stages, promising a blistering amount of enemy fire throughout. From the smallest of foes to the stage bosses, each hit or kill adds to a combo counter that multiplies the score — seeing a big fat +20,000 hit counter rapidly climbing as the player punishes a boss is a real rush. I’ve long since memorized the soundtrack and drawn plenty of Mushi-inspired artwork, so it’s easy on the eyes & ears… but that’s about it. While it allows 2 players, it feels like a purely solo affair is the best way to clear it and see any extra bonuses. After clearing Maniac difficulty, I was well satisfied and looking for crunchier, more complex shmups to dig into. Luckily…

Ibara:

…There’s Ibara. And “crunchy” is a great description. I tried this in a PS2 re-release — and it’s clear that it’s not nearly as tight or crisp visually. Gameplay is identical, but the devil’s in the details: Ibara pits 1 or 2 players against the assault of the gothic lolita-dressed Rose Sisters, and their army of very-not-child-safe tanks, airships and fortresses; COVERED in spikes, blades and all sorts of painful looking details — said guns and cannons firing shurikens, broadswords(!), knives and Really Big Bullets. The player gets to answer back with five different weapons to pick up in battle, equipped individually on up to three drones, in any combination. Thus, a player can have their main gun, with a flying rocket launcher, flamethrower and 5-way spread gun all at the same time! On top of that, with each super bomb in stock, the player can charge said bomb up, and fire an invinicible super beam; the “Hadou Gun” that nullifies any enemy fire that runs into it, does insane damage to enemies trapped in it, and stays on screen for minutes at a time. Even with that safety net of hot lead, player death erupts in a shower of bullets that does damage to the enemy too.

If it sounds busy, it is. If it sounds intense, believe me, IT IS. Ibara revels in it’s bold, stylish presentation, and delivers on some heavy gameplay — although compared to Mushihimesama, it’s a bit easier in difficulty. Not much, but enough to notice. The last of the three though…

ESP Galuda 2:

…is a big, beautiful, sexy, steampunk inspired BEAST of a vertical shmup. CAVE/AMI pulled out all the stops for the third of their ESP “series” (Galuda 1 & Ra.De.) Stay with me on this one: Genetics, super-science, alchemy, whatever you want to call it, but the three characters; Tateha, Ageha & newcomer Asagi, wage a battle against an imperial family of cyborg psychics (this author assumes…) Shot types differ between the three, and the most basic system is like Mushihimesama. But instead of support drones, the old ESP Ra.De. powered shot and chargeable super bomb/shield returns. And then there’s Kakusei Mode. Pressing the secondary button engages/disengages a ‘bullet-time’ mode that drastically slows down enemy fire. Normally as you kill opponents, they drop green gems, and these gems power Kakusei Mode. If an enemy launches a volley of bullets and is killed before nailing the player, their bullets are converted to gold instead of gems, and racks up extra points. If the player uses up all their gems (a total of 500 to collect) Kakusei Over mode kicks in, DOUBLING the bullet speed and making enemies attack more aggressively! A screen full of fast, angry red bullets is a scary thing. But ESP Galuda 2 goes even further, as if the Kakusei mode button is held, the screen goes into a negative image and Zesshikkai Mode is on.

Now, instead of just changing to gold, every enemy killed turns the screen full of bullets turn into MORE bullets… now AIMED at the player. The player gets an even bigger bonus score for each ‘flip’ of curtain fire from normal to homing and so on, but the same rules apply. Slow down enemy fire for gold, or risk a Zesshikkai Over mode with faster aimed bullets!

Whew! Deep, huh? One can play the game without ever using Kakusei, Zesshikkai or their Over variants (or if they REALLY wanna challenge themselves, they can waste their gems and tackle the whole game in fast-forward!) But the risk vs. reward aspect is VERY tempting and the mechanics of the game are very well executed througout!

(2) SOUNDTRACK UPDATE!

-Even more CAVE/AMI fandom here, as I got an advance listen to the soundtrack for the latest game, Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu. I’ve mentioned it before, but for this gamer a soundtrack can make the experience (or break it.) I’m happy to say, I’ll be ordering this CD VERY soon. If I didn’t know better, I’d say composers Manabu Namiki, Yoshimi Kuzo & Asuza Chiba melded the DDP series (and Namiki’s signature) techno style with live guitar and a decidedly… hip-hop sort of rhythm! “Shadowing World ~ Obverse” hits it’s listeners with a funky R& B drumbeat, a slithering guitar solo and a very pop/game music flourish throughout. The end credits theme, “Who Decided About ‘Dying Peacefully?” at times feels like a young modern hip hop ballad. Of course, boss themes like “Element Daughter” & “Longhena Cantata” rage and throb with brutal 808 beats, and “][|/34<#!” (”Hibachi”, for the l33t impaired — the second half of this repeat video link) is one of Namiki’s better PSYCHOTIC Amen-breakbeat spamming sessions — you get points with Crybringer if you can trick him into thinking his speakers flatlined.

“Numerous Blinking Lights In The Night Sky Towards A Shining Future” and “The Battle Was Just ‘To Continue That Future” are just pure Namiki and a real showcase of his musical know-how. Elegant chord progressions, sharp melodies, excellent atmosphere… I CANNOT wait until an arrange album appears, as these are MUSTS to include. If the rest of Basiscape gets a hold of them, watch out…

(3) THERE IS NO NUMBER THREE.

(Mainly because Windows Vista seems to want to think for me instead of letting me do it. I love this new laptop, and don’t have a problem with Vista overall per se. I guess it’s just unfamiliarity with the machine that irks me… now– QUIT SELECTING WHEN I MOUSE OVER STUFF!!!)

That’s about it for now. Best to pace out the new year, eh? See y’all next week!

Heyoo, readers!  Remember, there’s a leap second to consider before kicking off 2009!

I’ll be on my way to Magfest 7 this weekend, and I hope to have a huge roundup of bands playing and games played!  Your resident Crybringer hopes you had a very Merry Christmas (while he celebrates with a new laptop!) and we can kick off 2009 in grand style!  Sing, drink, be happy with friends and good company tonight, and stay safe out there! 

 *ahem!*

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old times since ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
And surely I’ll buy mine !
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.