It looks like our friends over at Destructoid are up on the whole Twitter thing. I can barely keep track of a few friends much less all the accounts for game developers and even individual games. They’ve reported that shots of the controller for the upcoming DJ Hero rhythm title from Activision were posted on the official DJ Hero Twitter page this morning. While it looks interesting, I don’t quite understand what you’re supposed to do with it. I guess you press a button and move the “ring” that it’s embedded in like you would a turntable?
Anyway, one can’t help but compare the controller to the only other DJ-like input device out there, which is the turn table from Beatmania. While Beatmania’s version is rather simple, as it was a secondary input to the keyboard buttons, it would have been cool to see multiple turntables in DJ Hero. Then again, I know nothing about scratching, so maybe this is a more realsitic input method? Be sure to watch for coverage of this title in the coming month, are we’re hoping it will be playable at E3 this year.
What do you guys think of the turntable controller for DJ Hero? Are you looking forward to this game at all?
We have good news today on two fronts. First of all, the album release for the Symphonic Shades concert featuring the music of Chris Hülsbeck (that’s “Huelsbeck” for those of you who fear the almighty umlaut) has sold so well that they’ve burned through their inventory and are offering an identical second edition later this month. Even better, it’s being sold at a lower price, and is currently available for pre-order here.
The second piece of good news is that we have two copies of the first edition here in our offices just for you. So, what do you have to do to win one? Simple! Send us an audio file of you saying “Hülsbeck,” and the two entries that we find the most entertaining will win a copy of the album. Send your entries to [email protected] by May 28, 2009 at 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time to be considered!
Are you at all surprised by the popularity of this album? Are you with many others in thinking it was one of the best albums of 2008?
When I first heard about Sonic and the Black Knight, I thought it sounded like a questionable idea at best. It seems that many critics agreed with these first impression after the game was released, but I still had high hopes for the soundtrack. Composed by a large team of composers including series giants and newcomers alike, it definitely looked promising.
So, how about Jun Senoue, Tommy Tallarico, Richard Jacques, Howard Drossin, Yutaka Minobe, Hikaru Tanimoto, and a slew of performers on bass, guitar, drums, strings, violin, hurdy gurdy, and other instruments? Not quite as many composers as featured on the Sonic World Adventure soundtrack from earlier this year, but this one definitely gets some bonus points for the variety of talent alone. I hope you like rock music, because that’s what you’re going to get alongside some great orchestral music.
Find out if the Sonic and the Black Knight soundtrack is worth your time after the jump. (more…)
While I rarely get the opportunity to talk about him here, Vince DiCola is one of my favorite musicians of all time. Not only did he score The Transformers, the animated film and Rocky IV 1980s, but he has released a slew of amazing solo and group-based efforts of the past twenty-plus years that are definitely worth your attention.
It was an absolute tragedy that DiCola wasn’t brought on to at least contribute to the recent Transformers film by Michael Bay, but DiCola is back to give it another shot. This video, titled “Invasion of the Machines (Pt. 1)” is a tribute to robot films throughout the decades, but more importantly, the music playing throughout the video, ” BOUND & GAGGED,” is DiCola’s demo submission for the upcoming Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen. With DiCola on keyboards and drums, Kenny Meriedeth on guitars, and Rick Livngstone belting out some killer vocals, I hope Bay opens up his ears and includes the song in this film. Also, the fact that this piece is titled “(Pt. 1),” hopefully there are more treats like this in store for fans in the future.
Are you a fan of DiCola’s work on Transformers or Rocky IV? Do you think “BOUND & GAGGED” should be featured in Revenge of the Fallen?
While Ancient Wars: Sparta might look like an Age of Empires III knock-off on first glance with its familiar graphical style and gameplay mechanics, it distinguishes itself with its focus on one aspect of the ancient world. Ancient Wars: Sparta revolves around the affairs of the Spartans and features some pretty fitting music. The game specifically targets a period of human strife in the ancient world, and the music almost exclusively highlights a dark, warlike mood through the slow-paced tempo guided by the heavy beats of the percussion.
Three film/video game cross-over composers collaborated for this soundtrack, none of whom I had previous heard of: Markus Schmidt, Alex Pfeffer, and Alexander Roder. It’s always interesting to see what film composers will bring to the table when they work on games, and the fact that three such composers were working on this game had me curious when I picked this one up.
Did this collaboration pay off? Find out in our review of Ancient Wars: Sparta after the jump. (more…)
How does a chance to win a professional version of the ACID software suite, five sample libraries, merchandise from High Voltage, and an appearance on The Conduit’s official soundtrack album sound? The Acid Planet website is currently running a remix contest where the grand prize is just that. You have until June 11th to enter, so get writing!
Even if you’re not the musician type, you can hear a track from the game as well as download 66 individual instrument tracks by visiting the contest website. It’s cool to finally hear some music from the game which is due out later in June, so be sure to check it out. We mentioned that composer Diego Stacco would be handling the game’s score, and I’m looking forward to hearing more of his music. I’m just happy that they’re releasing a soundtrack album!
Have you been following The Conduit? Think we’re going to see the standard trance remix take the win in this contest?
Once again we’re featuring work by renowned Japanese composer Yoko Kanno. This time, it’s the second soundtrack from the latest installment of the anime classic, Macross. You may recognize the original Macross saga as the first season of Robotech–an anime which aired on American television during the 80’s–which featured multiple anime series, edited together to form a single show for syndication. Unfortunately, this caused several licensing issues, which ultimately prevented localization of some of the most recent Macross series. Despite that, it still maintains a cult following, no doubt for its cool mecha, love triangles, and strong emphasis on the music–of which, Macross Frontier is in no short supply.
Macross Frontier provided us with two official soundtracks, a vocal album, six CD singles, and drama CDs. Of those, the second soundtrack went on to sell more than 100,000 copies within the first week it was released– a feat which hadn’t been accomplished since 1997’s The End of Evangelion. If those numbers haven’t already sold you on it, maybe I can.
Hit the jump to find out why Macross Frontier Original Soundtrack 2 – Nyan Tora is our pick for soundtrack of the month. (more…)
