Samples

Game Music

Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Music Sample: As Good As The Classics?

March 28, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | 4 Comments Share this

So Sonic has had a rough decade to say the least. While some of us (me included) enjoyed a few of the newer titles like Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, most fans look back on these titles in disgust. Awkward camera, bubblegum rock, and Sonic friends all seem to enrage Sonic fans, while they still buy every title as they are released. Trying to please the angry fans, SEGA surprisingly announced Sonic The Hedgehog 4 for the download services across platforms to be released this spring.

Now, SEGA released a sneak peak into how the soundtrack will be. And while it isn’t strictly the good old FM synth of the Genesis, it’s still aims at a very retro style. Nintendo Power revealed that the soundtrack is being handled by non other than Jun Senoue. What do you think of the sample? And what do you expect of the game?

Downloads available at SEGA’s Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Website
Game Music

10 Stories Website Launches: Samples and… Extra Stories?

February 27, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

We’ve been talking about Nobuo Uematsu’s cheerful iTunes singles for some time now, being quite impressed by the results. As mentioned we never got around to talk about the last two singles, but fear not, it will all be good soon enough when the album drops inMarch.

To pump people up for it, Dog Ear Records has launched a new website for Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories! You can listen to samples presented in a nice video presentation, and there are links to all singles. It’s interesting to note that the album will actually feature 14 tracks, one of which is an alternate version and another of which is a bonus track. What does that make track 11 and 12? The album drops on March 10, so be sure to get it from your favorite importer.

Will you be picking the album up next month? Any thoughts as to the additional tracks?
Game Music

Nintendo’s Triple Threat: 3 New Websites With Audio!

February 3, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | 5 Comments Share this

At E3 2009, Nintendo revealed the newest chapter in the Metroid saga, the oddly named Metroid: Other M. Treated to a nerdy ovation and instantly peaking everyone’s interests, the game quickly went behind the curtains again and little if anything has been shown of what to expect. Even more hidden was Monado: Beginning of the World. The title is Monolith’s new RPG, and was only shown in the press package released online, but no mention given at the conference itself. Finally Nintendo has started slowly to reveal more.

Monado: Beginning of the World has now changed title (in Japan at least) to XENOBLADE, which raises some interesting questions of its connection to the Xeno series. Another title was also revealed on the day of the website launch, a new RPG from Mistwalker titled The Last Story, by Hironobu Sakaguchi. Yeah you read the title right, the creator of Final Fantasy now has a new game called The Last Story. Clever.

The three websites all come with audio samples of what we might expect, and none disappoint. Metroid: Other M has a contemplative piano track, The Last Story has a very nice violin track, and XENOBLADE has what seems to be a Sakuraba-esque epic theme.

Go to the Metroid: Other M, The Last Story and XENOBLADE websites and tell us what you think!
Featured, Game Music

Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment Music Details (Samples Included!)

January 19, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

It was last year that Konami unveiled a new Vandal Hearts game titled Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment for the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. As a fan of the original Vandal Hearts, I was shocked to see a revival of the franchise, and was even more surprised when I learned it was being handled by a Western developer. We got our hands on the title briefly and E3 2009, and while I enjoyed the classic strategy gameplay, I found the cartoonish visuals to be quite different from the Vandal Hearts I remembered from when I was a kid.

So, is the music different as well? The score for Flames of Judgment is actually being handled in-house by Doug Brandon, who acts as both Audio Director and Marketing Manager for Hijinx Studios in Southern California. Pretty interesting combination of roles for sure. In terms of audio, he’s responsible for the music, sound design, and voice over production work on all of the projects at Hijinx, and has worked on titles such as Wayne Gretzky Hockey, San Francisco Rush, and the Chess Master series in the past. We’ve fortunately been able to catch a few words with him between his numerous other duties, and Konami has even supplied us with some lengthy music samples for your listening pleasure.

Check out what Doug Brandon has to say about the game’s music and listen to some music clips after the jump! (more…)
Software

Bust a Beat: Ocean Way Drums DL (Review)

November 15, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Most musicians out there have heard of NAMM, one of the biggest and longest running music product trade shows in the world. It’s always fun to walk up and down the aisles, checking out what’s new for just about any instrument you can think of, but I, of course, tend to stick to the software and music hardware section that’s all the way at the end of the hall.

This year I chanced across Ocean Way Drums, a company that focuses on– you guessed it– drums! I was immediately impressed with the realistic sounding drum samples that I heard, but when I saw the price tag, I knew that they were well out of my range. As it turns out, Ocean Way Drums has since remedied this problem with the launch of Ocean way Drums DL, a set of 5 kits for a reasonable price tag of $249.99. For those who aren’t into composition, I know it sounds expensive, but trust me… their Platinum line runs for $1995!

Check out our impressions of the Ocean Way Drums DL line after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Hear Your Music in 3D: 3D Dot Game Hero Music Samples Online

October 21, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Hear Your Music in 3D: 3D Dot Game Hero Music Samples Online Share this

Don’t know what 3D Dot Game Hero is? Well, I don’t blame you, as it’s only out in Japan as of this moment, but I highly recommend doing a Google search to find out more about this game. To put it in a single sentence, it’s a retro RPG developed by From Software that uses a unique “3D pixel” style and looks, plays, and sounds a whole lot like The Legend of Zelda.

I’m generally a fan of From Software RPGs (looking at you, King’s Field!), so I’d be excited about this game without the awesome visual style, but this certainly adds to my sick desire to see this game come to the States. While we don’t know who’s writing the music, From Software has posted 4 music samples to the official Japanese website for streaming. It sounds like we have a main theme of sorts, a dungeon theme (which is awesome), and a couple rockin’ tracks that remind me a whole lot of Ys. Feel free to tell me if that comparison is crazy.

Are you impressed with the game’s visual style and matching retro soundtrack? Are you with me in hoping that they bring this game to the West?

[via STC]
Game Music, Reviews

Sample Square Enix’s Upcoming Wares: Square Enix Music Sampler CD Vol. 4 (Review)

October 16, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

We posted the track list for Square Enix’s latest sampler disc from TGS, Square Enix Music Sampler CD Vol . 4 a couple weeks ago. We now have the disc in-hand, and thought we’d tell you our impressions of what Square Enix has to offer for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

There’s a lot of great stuff here, from Four Warriors of Light, to a sample from Love SQ, to music from Final Fantasy XIII. It’s a generous tease, but it still leaves me wanting some of these releases more sooner than later.

Hit the jump to find out which samples have me really excited in our review of the Sampler CD Vol. 4. (more…)