I can’t believe it’s already been a year. We met Izumi Tsukushi, the manager of Square Enix’s music licensing division, at last year’s Comic Con, and we were fortunate to get to see him again this year’s show and ask some questions about the state of things at Square Enix. As an additional bonus, Akio Shiriaishi, the promotions and marketing manager for the music division was also on hand to discuss music.

So, what did we find out? First of all, Square Enix is going to be bringing their music in full force to events in both North America and Europe. That’s good news. They also have their sights on Yasunori Mitsuda for their next orchestral drammatica-like “best of” album. Other topics include the SaGa soundtrack box, Blood of Bahamut, Chrono Trigger DS, Shota Shimizu’s Chrono Trigger single, and Square Enix’s Tokyo Game Show sampler which will feature music from both Final Fantasy Gaiden and an unannounced music project. It’s certainly an interesting discussion, so check it out!

Read our interview with the Square Enix music licensing team after the jump (more…)

So, we’ve already given you an in-depth look at Tritton’s AX Pro Gaming Headset, and Tim had the pleasure of paying the company a visit at E3 this year to check out their latest AX720 and AX900 models that addressed some of my initial complaints about the AX Pro. Today on the floor, however, we were able to see the next entry into Tritton’s arsenal of audio goods.

The entry level AX180 is much smaller than the Pro, 720, and 900, but still packs quite a punch. It sports the same speakers as the more pricey 720 and 900 models, and can even be used universally on all consoles, including the Wii.  It’s USB-powered too, which means no need to search around for a wall socket. I think of all their headsets, this one is the one that really speaks to me given its smaller design and simple connection options.  It’s definitely going to work fine for mundane tasks like Skype and playing the DS. It’s due out at the end of summer at a price point of about $69, so watch for more information as it becomes available.

Are you at all interested in any of Tritton’s audio wares? Do you think stepping down from their high-end gaming headsets is a good way to go?

Bear McCreary just became one of my favorite Hollywood composers ever. We’ve known for awhile that he’s really into games, but after talking to him at Comic Con yesterday, it’s obvious that he knows his stuff and really has an appreciation for classic gaming and music. He even went as far as to say that modern game music has “devolved” with all the new technology.

We talk about his work on Dark Void, how he got the gig, and how much music he wrote for the game. His Battlestar Galactica band is also briefly discussed along with some of his upcoming projects, including another top-secret game project that he’s pretty excited about. I’m SO looking forward to having my ears mauled by Bear McCreary’s Dark Void soundtrack!

Read our review from the Comic Con showfloor after the jump. (more…)

Okay, maybe I’m being a bit premature, but the few tracks I heard on the show floor today sound pretty awesome. I’ll admit I haven’t been overly impressed with much of Mitsuda’s latest work, but this sounds more in line with his work on Chrono Cross more than anything else (although you wouldn’t know from the epic battle theme). The game looks and plays really well too, making it a nice, tidy package.

So what was there there hear? The demo I played took place in the Mirrorsand Grotto, a gloomy blue cavern with some awesome music. The piece started with some triangle percussion before an acoustic guitar was added with some cool pitch bend effects at the end of each measure. The pad progression was really dark and different, especially for a Mitsuda piece. The battle theme, as I mentioned, is pretty epic. I dig the breakdown at the 0:52 mark in the above video, and afterwards, that’s some nice marimba!

Looking forward to Sands of Destruction early next year? Are you hoping as much as I am that they put out a soundtrack for this game?

Yet again, I’ve been caught not following a game that I should have been all over.  I loved Halo 3, and still play it quite often, but before today, I didn’t even know what ODST meant.  Honestly, after being told, I still don’t remember, but after playing the game tonight at Microsoft’s showcase, I’m definitely a believer in whatever it stands for.

So, after playing through a cooperative match with three other players where we fended off waves of Covenant combatants, I stepped outside and had Bungie’s Brian Jarrard fill me in on what I’d been missing.  Apparently the game is going to be much more open than previous Halo outings, with large areas to explore and a much darker atmosphere, complete with amazing rain effects and gloomy backdrops.  When asked about the audio, we were told that Marty O’Donnell is definitely returning to the series, and has written an entirely new score that aims to match the game’s darker mood. This was apparently quite a challenge for him, so I’m curious to hear how it turned out. While a soundtrack release hasn’t been announced, we’ll be surprised if it doesn’t come out.  We’re hoping to bring you some more coverage of the title before its September release, so watch for it!

Have you been following Halo 3: ODST and have any thoughts about it one way or the other?  Are you a fan of what Marty O’Donnell has done with previous Halo scores?

Talk about an experience of a lifetime. I was super jealous when 1UP.com did their “One Day With Nobuo Uematsu” video interview last year, but I am confident when I say that Shota and I had an even better day with Nobuo Uematsu in San Francisco this past Saturday. He was in town for the Distant Worlds concert, of course, and man, it was a truly epic experience.

Aside from our lengthy interview that features some pretty bizarre questions, we saw Uematsu-san get assaulted (not really) by fans on the street who wanted his autograph, and learned that hey, contrary to popular believe, his English is pretty amazing. In fact, we almost didn’t even need Shota on hand, as I would often ask my question in English, and Uematsu-san would immediately respond in Japanese, and even English at times. Despite being called a “stalker” on numerous occasions by Uematsu, I I was quite content when the day was over, and we hope you enjoy the end result.  Oh, and there’s more to come, so be on the lookout in the coming days and weeks!

Hear the answers to your burning questions about Uematsu’s legendary mustache along with many other things you never knew you wanted to know after the jump! (more…)

I can’t believe it took me this long to see a Distant Worlds show. I guess it’s not really my fault, since AWR Music Productions is based out of Chicago and has pretty much ignored the west coast up until now. This past weekend, however, they were in San Francisco (one of my favorite cities in the world), and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to both see the show and meet Nobuo Uematsu face-to-face.

In case you’re wondering, yes, we did interview Uematsu-san. For an entire day, basically. You’ll have to wait for the interviews (yes, plural), but we wanted to get our impressions of the show up as quickly as possible. I’ll say right out that if you liked Dear Friends, you’re going to love Distant Worlds, as it’s pretty much the same concept with some new (and sometimes improved) arrangements.

Some interesting stuff happened at the show, so you’ll want to check out our report after the jump. (more…)