Jón Hallur Haraldsson is an Icelandic native, and a member of the company CCP Games, also located in Iceland. The company is responsible for one of the most truly “open-ended” MMORPGs out there, EVE Online. This epic sci-fi fantasy world gives so much free reign to players that content, plot, and “balance” are all determined by the collective decisions of the players. There is nothing “static” about this world.

This presents a unique challenge for Jón, whose ambient electronica helps to set the mood for the vast, space-age fantasy world presented in-game. We were fortunate enough to contact Jón and ask him about his experiences with EVE Online, among other things. After the jump, check out our full interview with Jón Hallur Haraldsson. (more…)

You may have read earlier today that Atlus is rewarding US fans’ patience with not only a limited edition artbook for the game, but also a full soundtrack release. This is significant not only because it’s twice the pre-order bonus, but also because Japan never received a soundtrack release for the game, meaning it will be out in the United States first. Pretty unique for a Japanese game

We had the opportunity to check out the game and some of its music at Anime Expo, and I was impressed. Shunsuke Kida is responsible for the orchestral store, and I can’t wait to hear the album in its entirety.  If you want to hear some of the tracks yourself, Atlus has uploaded two music samples to their official website, so go check it out!

Has Atlus convinced you to stop importing the game yet?  Are you looking forward to hearing the game’s music in a CD player near you?

About one week ago I was casually sitting back with my good friend Wizwars on Skype, talking about myself as usual. It was an ordinary Sunday, with nothing big on the horizon, and hopefully, for the first time in a while, I was going to have a slow, relaxing week. However as the night went on, and all the topics that relate to yours truly were already covered, Wizwars finally had a chance to speak and inform me of something that would completely change my plans of having a slow week

Blipfest, the world’s biggest chiptune event was coming to Europe, and they were going to be here the following Friday.  I was completely shocked and probably jumped back a couple of feet before I was able to collect myself and gets some oxygen into my system. Being a huge fan of chip tunes, I had to be there, and with less than 5 days to make sure of that, I immediately got to work. The destination was Aalborg, Denmark, and Friday morning, 24th of July, I was on my way.

Read more about my journey to Blipfest after the jump! (more…)

Going to be in Sydney in September? If so, A Night in Fantasia 2009 is the place to be. Eminence just put out a press release about the concert, which is set to take place on September 26, 2009, at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia. It looks like it’s going to be an amazing night of games and anime not to be forgotten.

Getting to the stuff you really want to know: what are they playing? There’s a lot of new material here, with AFRIKA, Darksiders: Wrath of War, Dragon Age: Origins, Prince of Persia, and the amazing Shadow of the Colossus along with some anime pieces from Astro Boy, Studio Ghibli, and Deathnote to name a few. A pretty wide range of material, and I’m curious to hear the music of Darksiders: Wrath of War and Dragon Age: Origins in particular, as they haven’t struck me as big music titles.

Would you be interested in hearing any of these games at a concert near you? Read Eminence’s official press release after the jump. (more…)

Every once in awhile, game companies surprise us by giving us exactly what we want in terms of game music. While I admit that doesn’t occur often, Capcom is generally one of the companies that show game music fans some love, and I’m sure their in-house record label Suleputer has something to do with it. You guys know I am a huge fan of the Breath of Fire series, as Breath of Fire III served as our soundtrack of the month back in September, so you can imagine that I was pretty excited when Capcom released the Breath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Box back in 2006.

What’s in it? Well, everything. Not only will you find the Breath of Fire IV and V soundtracks intact, but the original Breath of Fire, which never received an official soundtrack release, as well as additional music from Breath of Fire II and III, are also included, making this the end-all collection for Breath of Fire music fans. Even more, we recently learned that Capcom’s former Sound Director Tetsuya Shibata was responsible for putting the set together, often without the source files, so we should all be thankful for his diligence and Capcom in general for making this possible.

Our review of the massive, 11-disc box set is waiting for you after the jump. (more…)

While the gaming division of Konami didn’t have a presence at this year’s Comic Con, they fortunately hosted an off-site event where gaming media could get their hands on some titles that they may have missed at E3 as well as a couple new titles, including the upcoming Wii take on the Pop’n Music series. It’s the first time the series is making its way to the US, and if you’ve seen the countless versions on arcades and PlayStation consoles in Japan you’re likely pretty excited about this new development.

Well, let me tell you right out that the game has a long way to go. It looks great, retaining the series’ vibrant visuals, but the controls are somewhat lacking in accuracy, precision, and, well, number at the moment. Basically, you use the remote and nunchuk and either flick your wrist outwards, swing up and down, or flick them inwards to hit the 5 possible notes, but it’s just not all that responsive, which is quite frustrating to say the least. If they can figure out how to manage the controls on the Wii and up the difficulty (I was already blowing through the more challenging stages despite the controls), this could definitely turn into an awesome rhythm title for the Wii. They intend to feature both English and Japanese-language tracks in the game (awesome), with one being Jamoriquai’s “Virtual Insanity,” a personal favorite of mine.

Are you a fan of the Pop’n Music series? Have any requests from either the East or West that you’d like to see included in the game?

The crowds at San Diego Comic-Con had plenty to celebrate as Video Games Live returned to perform simultaneously with the event. The second appearance of VGL in San Diego marks the 30th venue the concert series has performed this year alone. Certainly this is a testament to the interest fans have in the wide world of game music.

You’re probably wonder what was new, so I’ll tell you.  New pre-concert videos, a Mega Man segment, and the much-talked about Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross segment all made an appearance.  Overall, it was a good experience, so check out the setlist at the very least.

Our impressions of the show, after the jump. (more…)