How does one craft the music for a game like echochrome? It must have been a challenge to create the ambiance necessary for such an abstract puzzle game, but Hideki Sakamoto was up to the challenge. Speaking with Siliconera, the musician noted the need for simplicity to match the game's visual style. echochrome is a game that needs no language, and Sakamoto wanted to convey that through a sound that's universally appealing. "Considering that the visual aspect of the game is strikingly simple, I had it in mind not to let the music overpower the overall design.I wanted to avoid distracting the player by using unusual sound effects or unfamiliar instruments.Classical music seemed to me the best choice because it is universal."
One of the challenges of crafting the musical landscape for echochrome was creating a sound that doesn't necessarily move the player in a particular way. "In Echochrome, the important thing was for the player to have such feelings, just for their own sake.There was no sense of striving to manipulate the player's emotions, and that was something of a realization for me as a musician."
Please read the entire interview at Siliconera for more. It really is quite fascinating. Samples of the soundtrack can be heard here. The soundtrack is available for import at Play-Asia.
Wish you could have the soothing strings of echochrome with you everywhere you go? Looks like the popularity of Sony's intriguing puzzle game has greenlit production of the soundtrack CD. Available on May 21st in Japan, the CD will include 13 tracks from the game, including such hits as "prime #3" and "prime #9973." These hits will undoubtedly open your mind to new kinds of perspective -- please don't listen to them while operating a motor vehicle.
The soundtrack CD will retail for the standard price of 2,940円 (~$28.21 US).
If you live in Japan (most probably not) and plan on picking up Valhalla Knights 2, you might want to pre-order and grab the free soundtrack bonus offer. Titled "Sounds of Valhalla Knights," the soundtrack contains 20 songs from the game, and most of which come from former Square Enix sound editor, Shohiro Nakaoka. Nakaoka has worked as a sound editor on such games as Final Fantasy XII,Front Mission 4, and Xenogears.
For those non-Japanese interested in getting this sequel to the fantasy-themed RPG Valhalla Knights, we're hoping that your favorite import sites will carry the pre-order bonus. If not, there's always Ebay.
John McGinley's work in Dead Head Fred seems to be getting even more attention than the game itself. When many reviewers talk about the game's presentation or sound, they're focusing solely on his voice acting or the game's sound effects. But if you didn't notice, the game has a soundtrack, and it's pretty damn good, too.
However, in case you can't hear it due to McGinley's amazing voice-acting, Rod Abernethy and Jason Graves have released their masterpiece soundtrack on iTunes. According to the release, everyone can now enjoy Dead head Fred's blending of "cinematic orchestrations with a dark panorama of jazz, southwestern guitar, ambient, rock fusion and other seemingly disparate music styles into a cohesive and alluring listening experience."
We have absolutely no idea what that meant, but it certainly sounds interesting.
Unfortunately, we've distributed as many downloads of the soundtrack as we could. We didn't expect this to be such a huge success! Thanks for checking out PSP Fanboy and remember ... PaRappa the Rapper for PSP is now available in stores.
The Wipeout series is known for its incredible techno-heavy soundtrack, and Pulse doesn't look to disappoint. The upcoming racer will have yet another licensed soundtrack, which CVG has unearthed:
Flat Out by Dopamine
Chemical by MoveYa! & Steve Lavers
Tokyo by Stanton Warriors
Break ya self - Wipeout mix by B Phreak & Groove Allegiance
Slingshot - Wipeout mix by Rennie Pilgrem & BLIM
X-Project (100% Pure mix) by DJ Fresh
Frontline by EdRush, Optical & Matrix
Seven Stitches by Noisia
Smart Systems by MIST
Exceeder - special mix by Mason
Steady Rush by Booka Shade
Fenix Funk 5 [wipeout edit] by Aphex Twin
Aero Dynamik by Kraftwerk
Suspicious Thoughts by Skream
Sea of Sound - Wipeout mix by Guy Gerber & Shlomi Aber
City Lights (Martin Buttich remix) PSP Cut by Loco Dice
Of course, if this doesn't suit your tastes, you have customizable soundtracks as well. With customizable ships, infrastructure multiplayer, and significant gameplay improvements, Pulse sounds like it will almost certainly be a winner. We can't wait to find out more.
Burnout Dominator is getting something new. And no, it's not Infrastructure support. It's something just as good, we swear! "Girlfriend", Avril Lavigne's latest single will be debuting in EA's latest racer. Some of the artists included in the game's somewhat eclectic soundtrack include: B'z, Filter, Jane's Addiction, Killswitch, N.E.R.D., Sugarcult and Wired All Wrong. "The Burnout series is an amazing, proven platform for launching the world's biggest songs and artists, and we're thrilled to be working with Avril Lavigne this year to help debut her new song "Girlfriend," said Steve Schnur, EA's Worldwide Executive of Music. "From pop to rock to metal Burnout Dominator is all about attitude and rebellion, which makes it a perfect fit for the 33 artists."
Did you read my hands-on of Atlus' upcoming PSP-exclusive RPG, Monster kingdom: Jewel Summoner? The game has some serious talent behind it, especially in the music department. The RPG features works from celebrated composers, listed below:
Shinji Hosoe (Ridge Racer series)
Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy XII)
Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenosaga)
Kenji Ito (Sword of Mana)
Yoko Shimomura (Street Fighter II)
Masaharu Iwata (Final Fantasy Tactics)
Tsukasa Masuko (Shin Megami Tensei series)
Yasuyuki Suzuki (Doshin the Giant)
Ayako Saso (Phantom Kingdom)
Takahiro Ogata (Shin Megami Tensei NINE)
The soundtrack to the game features 44 tracks from these famous composers, and samples can be heard on Atlus' newly opened official website for the game. The game hits stores on February 13th. Expect a full review closer to that date.
While you're waiting for today's edition of PSP Fanboy Theatre to arrive, get your PSP's wi-fi revved up and check out these awesome tunes from the upcoming import music game, DJ Max Portable 2. To download from your PSP, head over to m.pspfanboy.com and download the tracks from Ruriweb.
For the rest of you, don't forget to check out videos from the first game (now available in English!). DJ Max Portable 2 will hit Korea in either February or March.
I praisedLumines II's soundtrack for its breadth and diversity. However, it looks like the upcoming Japanese release of this puzzle favorite will improve the already impressive song lineup by adding more Japanese music into the game. 1UP reports that artists like DJ Ken Ishii and the Genki Rockets will have additional songs, making this version of the game something importers and Mizuguchi collectors will certainly want to keep an eye on.
The game's still far off: February 15th for 4980 yen ($43). The game won't be published by Bandai Namco, as previously expected. Rather, it will be self-published by Q? Entertainment, making their very first foray into publishing.
The fine folks at IGN have interviewed Ryan Payton, Associate Producer at Kojima Productions, to kick off their week-long hype-fest on the soon-to-be-releasedMetal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Just in case you weren't excited enough for this project, Mr. Payton reveals a few nice tidbits that will surely please any PSP owner.
"Single and multiplayer modes are totally integrated, thus prolonging the life of the campaign mode. Online is accessible from the campaign mode for good reason -- players bring one of their 1P Sneaking Units to the online arena."
"We have a number of Wi-Fi-enabled modes. First off is Game Sharing, allowing you to play MPO multiplayer with friends who don't own a copy of MPO." (Yes!!!)
"The official soundtrack is coming to Japan. It's a forty-four track, beast of a soundtrack. Norihiko Hibino, best known for his composition of the Snake Eater theme, is back with some really cool tracks for MPO."
Oh, and two more things:
IGN: Are there plans to port Portable Ops to the PS2, in the event that the game receives poor sales on the PSP? Ryan: Absolutely not.
IGN: Will there be sequels if this proves to be the PSP's killer app? Ryan: Absolutely. If the response to MPO is as good as we're expecting, you can look forward to new chapters in the Big Boss legacy on PSP. We still have many stories to tell about the early years of Metal Gear Solid -- I hope we can continue to do that on PSP.
Hope you're not too busy playing Lumines II and Every Extend Extra, because there's another Q? Entertainment puzzler coming out soon: it's Gunpey. It recently went gold, and IGN got access to some videos, and awesome MP3s from the game's kickin' soundtrack. Folks that are reading this on their PSP (via m.pspfanboy.com) may want to download the music files directly onto their systems:
Of the three upcoming Mizuguchi music fusion games, it feels like Gunpey's getting the least attention. And that's not fair! The line-connecting puzzler features the same sensory candy as Lumines, with impressive skins and even better music. IGN has secured some footage of the game in motion, and it is a beautifying mix of colors and sound. But that's not all! You'll definitely want to download the three MP3s they have from the game's soundtrack, plop them into your PSP and then listen to some really groovin' techno while you're on the go.
Gunpey hits stores one week after Lumines, one the 14th. It's also retailing for the budget price of $30. Rad.
A new way to have the CPU and GPU communicate to each other was developed so that improvements could be made across the board. A new streaming process and lossless animation streaming allows the game to load more data at once.
"With the Jet Ski you can dive under water and come bursting back up, you can really feel it bounce off the waves as the weather conditions change, you can turn on a dime and really send the water spraying." (Sounds like they packed in an entire water racing game in our GTA!)
"The combat system has more depth to it than any other Grand Theft Auto game." Targeting and combat has been tweaked just a bit: you can now fight unarmed and do grappling moves and throws.
"The soundtrack has over 100 tracks, and is probably the best, deepest collection of songs ever assembled for any one project -- TV, Film, or Game." (But the game includes Custom Soundtracks too if you don't like retro music.)
Call me stunned. I know this is mostly PR hype, but considering how amazing the original Liberty City Stories was, I'm willing to believe that Rockstar is making this game a masterpiece. It sounds to be this could be the best GTA yet... handheld and console. And you didn't even have to wait until 12:01 AM for such amazing news. The game hits America the same time as Killzone. Ouch: my wallet's already crying.
How much do YOU love Loco Roco? The game's now available in stores and VH1 is giving away this huge inflatable figure, and other prizes, to fans of the game. All you have to do is send them a picture of LocoRoco in the "real world" (riding the train, in a diner, etc.), and you can use any method you want: PhotoShop, cardboard figures, creating a real LocoRoco from the primordial ooze you have stored in the freezer. See all the contest details.
In other Loco Roco news, GamesRadar has confirmed our fears that a Loco Roco soundtrack CD won't be made any time soon. That didn't stop GamesRadar from hosting a few of the songs on its servers. Check out creatively titled songs like Black Song, Blue Song and even Green Song. Wow.
How does one craft the music for a game like echochrome? It must have been a challenge to create the ambiance necessary for such an abstract puzzle game, but Hideki Sakamoto was up to the challenge. Speaking with Siliconera, the musician noted the need for simplicity to match the game's visual style. echochrome is a game that needs no language, and Sakamoto wanted to convey that through a sound that's universally appealing. "Considering that the visual aspect of the game is strikingly simple, I had it in mind not to let the music overpower the overall design. I wanted to avoid distracting the player by using unusual sound effects or unfamiliar instruments. Classical music seemed to me the best choice because it is universal."
Burnout Dominator is getting something new. And no, it's not Infrastructure support. It's something just as good, we swear! "Girlfriend", Avril Lavigne's latest single will be debuting in EA's latest racer. Some of the artists included in the game's somewhat eclectic soundtrack include: B'z, Filter, Jane's Addiction, Killswitch, N.E.R.D., Sugarcult and Wired All Wrong. "The Burnout series is an amazing, proven platform for launching the world's biggest songs and artists, and we're thrilled to be working with Avril Lavigne this year to help debut her new song "Girlfriend," said Steve Schnur, EA's Worldwide Executive of Music. "From pop to rock to metal Burnout Dominator is all about attitude and rebellion, which makes it a perfect fit for the 33 artists."
