Charity

Miscellaneous

Operation: 1-Up Launched to Help Fellow VG Music Fan in Need

February 23, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Operation: 1-Up Launched to Help Fellow VG Music Fan in Need Share this

One thing I love about the video game and VGM community is the often overwhelming outpouring of support for fellow fans and enthusiasts. In this case, 16-year old music and video game fan John (aka:DarthAurelius) was diagnosed with inexplicable total renal failure. Neither of John’s kidneys are working properly and he has been confined to needing regular dialysis treatments to help flush toxins out of his blood like his kidneys should be doing. Now, this is an ailment that afflicts many, young and old, within our world every day. John, it appears, has some guardian angels looking to help at least this one young man have a second lease on life.

Operation 1-UP is a charity arrangement album looking to help contribute to the raising of funds that John needs to help acquire a new kidney. Medical treatment both prior to and after receiving a new kidney is not cheap, especially when waiting on a donor list and needing dialysis multiple times a week for several hours. Thus, a group of musicians and gaming fans have created a 21-track arrangement album dedicated to helping raise awareness of John’s condition and help bridge the gap between well-wishers and John’s medical treatment goals. Artists such as Super Guitar Bros., MissionGuitar, Motion Ocean and several others have donated arrangements from Super Metroid, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII and more towards the cause.

You can check out the album and cause for yourself and either pick up the album or throw a bit of money towards John’s treatment and help out.

Operation: 1-UP – Loudr | GoFundMe | Twitter

You can also learn about other programs to help fight Kidney Disease and organ donation at the National Kidney Foundation.
Game Music, Reviews

A Fitting Tribute – Play for Japan: The Album (Review)

July 14, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

There has been a lot of talk about the Play for Japan album, a project spearheaded by Grasshopper Manufacture’s Akira Yamaoka. The album was devised by Yamaoka to raise funds for the victims of the horrific earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan in March of this year, and to help him with this effort, he recruited many of the top game composers from within Japan and abroad.

In fact, I’d say this is the most impressive artist list ever assembled, surpassing even Otomedius and the Premium Arrange album series by far. But does the music live up to the names associated with the project?

Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Play for Japan: An East Meets West Charity Album

May 26, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

We’ve mentioned a number of ways to help the people of Japan recover from the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that occurred in March 2011. As it turns out, Akira Yamaoka has come up with yet another way, bringing together some of the top game composers from Japan and the West along with artist Yoshitaka Amano for what is sure to be an amazing project. Artists will contribute original pieces of music, and 100% of proceeds from the album will be donated to the Red Cross in Japan.

So, who’s all involved? They’re all listed in the press release after the jump, but to highlight a few, Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Koji Kondo, Mitsuto Suzuki, and Hip Tanaka from Japan, and Bear McCreary, Chance Thomas, Inon Zur, and Tommy Tallarico from the US. I find it interesting to see names like Koji Kondo and Mitsuto Suzuki given that they’re still in-house members of game development studios in Japan, but I’m excited about hearing their contributions.

See the press release with the full listing (including track titles) after the jump, and visit the album’s website for more details and biographies for those involved. Are you surprised by any of the names that appear, and are you looking forward to the album? (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

A Gift to Japan: Basiscape’s ‘Oto Gift’ Charity Album (Review)

April 22, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

We’ve been hearing a lot about ways to help out the people in Japan who have suffered so greatly after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in March. There have been auctions, concerts, and albums among others, and Basiscape has joined the fray with a small album of original music to raise funds for the Red Cross in Japan.

What does the team have to offer in this online-only digital release? Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

More Ways to Help Japan: MAGFest and NanaOn-Sha’s WINtA

March 24, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on More Ways to Help Japan: MAGFest and NanaOn-Sha’s WINtA Share this

We’ve already mentioned the fundraiser behind held by HearJapan, and now there are even more ways to help Japan cropping up in the videogame industry.

First is MAGFest, which is holding a 3-hour live auction on USTREAM featuring special guests, music, and auctions with proceeds going directly to charity. What things are being auctioned? Signed copies of rare soundtrack albums, customized remixes or songs written specifically for you by artists including Jake Kaufman, Grant “Stemage” Henry, Josh Whelchel, and others, as well as assorted crafts and game stuff. They held their first auction last weekend, and are holding another on March 27, 2011, so check out their charity webpage for more details on when, where, and what will be offered.

Second is WINtA by Masaya Matsuura’s studio, NanaOn-Sha. Proceeds from the music game/app and downloadable tracks will go to the Save the Children charity to help children affected by the disaster in Japan. For more information about their efforts and the game itself, visit the WINtA blog and check it out in action on YouTube.

Know of any other game-related charity events going on that we should know about? Let us know!
Chip Music, Doujin, Game Music, Indie Music

Songs for the Cure ’11: 40 Artists and 3 CDs to Help Fight Cancer

March 18, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

We’ve covered the Songs for the Cure project in the past, and it’s that time of year again. For those who are unfamiliar, Songs for the Cure unites dozens of artists in the common goal of raising money for the American Cancer Society. This year, 40 artists are joining forces to produce 3 separate physical (and digital) albums in an attempt to raise $10,000 to help combat cancer.

Details have been announced as to who’s involved and how the music will be released. As mentioned, 40 artists are taking part this year, including a slew of indie game composers such as C418 (Minecraft), Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy), and Josh Whelchel (GunGirl 2) to name a few, along with other composers and artists including Alexander Brandon, Jake Kaufman, souleye, A_Rival, Grant “stemage” Henry and many more. The music will be released as 3 separate albums available individually or bundled together. With the release date of March 29, 2011 right around the corner, you can head over and preorder now and check out their preview on YouTube here.

Hit the jump for the official press release with more details. (more…)
Chip Music, Demoscene, Game Music

Songs For The Cure ’10 Reaches Milestone, But Still Needs Your Help!

April 23, 2010 | Patrick Gann | 1 Comment Share this

We at OSV are big Josh Whelchel supporters. Josh is an indie composer who had it on his heart to start a charity album, which he did last year in the form of “Songs For The Cure.”

We ran a review on the follow-up album Songs For The Cure ’10. It’s good stuff, and every dollar spent on it goes via the Indie Music Cancer Drive to fight cancer.

We saw this letter from Josh recently and wanted to share with our readers:

“Just another BIG BIG thank you to everyone for your hard work. We’ve hit $5,180 and our ‘soft deadline’ is this Friday on April 23rd. I’m very confident we’ll hit $10,000 before the end of the fiscal year in August, so a HUGE thank you to everyone again.”

Do you want to help a good cause and get great music? Want to help reach that $10,000 mark? Get it at iTunes, or at Amazon, OR at CDBaby.