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Mondo’s CONTRA OST Vinyl Premiering at San Diego Comic-Con

July 18, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | 1 Comment Share this

Mondo seems to be continuing with their video game soundtrack releases to vinyl; this time featuring the NES classic Konami shooter-platformer Contra. The new vinyl release will be premiering at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

Contra was originally composed by Hidenori Maezawa (Goonies II, Adventures of Bayou Billy) and Kiyohiro Sada (Top Gun NES) for the NES version of the game and and arranged by Kazuki Muraoka for the arcade version, though they were all only credited under the Konami Kukeiha Club for years due to Konami’s fear of having their composers poached by other companies. Mondo sticks with the original composing credits for one reason or another. The Mondo release will feature both NES/Famicom and arcade versions of the game’s soundtrack pressed on 180 Gram Red & Blue Half-and-Half Vinyl for $25.

A limited version of the record (pressed on Yellow, Orange & Red vinyl) will be premiering at our San Diego Comic-Con booth (#835), but we wanted to give CONTRA fans the opportunity to pick up the soundtrack online, too. When doors open for Preview Night this Wednesday at 8PM (CT), our Red & Blue version of the record will be available at mondotees.com.

The vinyl artwork was done by Eric Powell, who worked on Mondo’s Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest release; in my opinion the best and most faithful artwork of their Castlevania line. It’s unfortunate Powell couldn’t work on all Mondo video game released, because certainly this Contra art does the game’s visual’s justice. Hopefully the music quality will follow suit.

You can purchase the Contra vinyl release starting tomorrow evening on MondoTees.com. You can also check out the limited edition variant if you’re perusing San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.
Events, Game Music

Battletoads and Rare on Vinyl & Print at San Diego Comic-Con

July 10, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | 2 Comments Share this

In anticipation for the August 4th release of Rare Replay — the Xbox One compilation of 30 (debatable) Rare classics — Microsoft has dropped a pair of surprising goodies on the San Diego Comic-Con crowd. Available in a limited run of only 300 units is a vinyl print of David Wise’s original Battletoads soundtrack featuring gorgeous sleeve and gatefold art by Nick Gazin.

Also available exclusively at the show is an 18×24” poster print from iam8bit featuring an amalgam of all 30 Rare Replay titles. These are also in very limited supply and come hand-signed and numbered. The vinyl album costs $25 and the prints are $50 on the show floor, but don’t feel too bad if you miss out on them. It sounds like reprints of both (with different art and no signatures) may be available later. Interested in other video game soundtracks on vinyl? Check out Brenna’s post where she covers the trend and some recent releases.
Gear

SDCC 2011: NOX Audio’s Admiral Touch-Screen Headset Impressions

August 9, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

We’re still wrapping things up from Comic Con a few weekends ago, and thought the touch-screen enabled Admiral headset from NOX Audio was one of the strangest things we saw at the show (yes, even more strange than some of the cosplayers).

We’ve talked about last year’s Specialist headset and Scout earphones, each with their own unique design elements, but NOX Audio is working full-throttle on the Admiral headset, a unique beast equipped with a touch screen and Wi-Fi capabilities.

Is it worth your attention, or just a gimmick? Find out after the jump. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

SDCC 2011: Square Enix Music Interview with Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi

August 8, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

[Above: Akio Shiraishi (left) and Izumi Tsukushi (right)]

It’s that time of year again, and we’re here with our most anticipated feature of San Diego Comic Con. This year’s interview with Square Enix’s product licensing division head Izumi Tsukushi and music licensing division promotion’s manager Akio Shiraishi marks our fourth annual sit-down with the two (see 2008, 2009, and 2010), and while we’ve been slowly trickling out tidbits from the interview of the past couple weeks, we’ve got the transcript here in its entirety with more information for your enjoyment.

We talk about many of the releases over the past year as well as some upcoming releases. We also follow-up on questions from previous years which offer some surprising answers. Anyone interested in that Piano Collections Final Fantasy I-III CD we suggested last year?

Find out what the two had to say about this and more after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

SDCC 2011: Where the Heck is Cafe SQ?

August 4, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this SDCC 2011: Where the Heck is Cafe SQ?

We have more to tell you from our interview with Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi from Square Enix. I absolutely loved Chill SQ last year even though it was incredibly short, and when it was announced that Cafe SQ would feature the same chillout vibe, I was immediately interested. Strangely, however, we’ve heard nothing about the album since it was announced, and even more strange is the fact that it was announced before SQ Chips, which will be out in just about a month.

During our chat I asked about the status of Cafe SQ. As it turns out, only two tracks are completed and ready to go thus far. We weren’t told how many tracks would be featured overall (there were seven on Chill SQ), but it doesn’t sound like they’re very far along. Still, of note is the fact that it is Izumi Tsukushi’s most anticipated album coming from Square Enix Music right now that’s announced. I’m with him in having high hopes for this album.

Oh, and if you care, the album cover was illustrated by Black Butler artist Yana Toboso. And excuse the grainy image, as is there is no high-res cover art available yet.

Are you looking forward to Cafe SQ, and are you surprised by the fact that it’s been announced with so little progress being made?
Game Music

SDCC 2011: More Than Just NieR Tribute Album -echo- On the Horizon

July 29, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

That’s right. One of the most interesting exclusive bits of information we got from Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi this year at Comic Con was the fact that there’s another unannounced NieR album in the works in addition to the already-announced NieR Tribute Album -echo-. The two noted that they weren’t all that surprised by popularity of the music from the game, but have felt pressure to give the score more attention after the popularity of the 8-bit remix on the More SQ CD.

In terms of what the NieR Tribute Album -echo- is all about, we were told that it will be a multi-artist arrangement album. I asked if it would essentially be “NieR SQ,” to which the two chuckled and said, “Yes, kind of like that.” They would not confirm which artists are involved.

Are you looking forward to the NieR Tribute Album and this unannounced project as well? Isn’t it cool to see the soundtrack on sale on the floor with a placard about it being named soundtrack of the year (from OSV and other sites!)?
Game Music

SDCC 2011: No Myth 2 Until Chrono Cross Arrange Album Is Done

July 26, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

Comic Con was just this past weekend. That means we had the opportunity to catch up with Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi at Square Enix and pick their brains about recent and upcoming soundtrack release from Square Enix’s internal label (see our past interviews from 2008, 2009, and 2010). While asking a question about Mitsuda’s comments about wanting to create a Myth 2 album if the first one sold well (I’m still pulling for the album to be called Re:Myth), we were told that while the album was very successful, and that they’d like to do a second album, that this would not happen until the Chrono Cross arrangement album is complete.

While I doubt we’ll see the Chrono Cross arrange album this year, I still think it’s great to see pressure from Square Enix along with fans to get this album completed. By no means do I want to see Mitsuda rush the album, but I think it’s been on his back-burner for way too long.

Are you looking forward to the Chrono Cross arrange album and to a second Myth album that may be planned for a later time?