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WoW's Singing Sunflower sweetens the Lament of the Highborne
The voice of Laura Shigihara will forever be synonymous among WoW fans with the Singing Sunflower pet -– that ineffably perky little companion so fond of cheerfully reminding you "There's a zombie on your law-awn ..." It's been a while since the Plants vs. Zombies theme song composer has sung any music related to World of Warcraft, but she's got a new tune out and it's one that Shigihara fans have been clamoring for years to hear: "Lament of the Highborne." "At first I didn't want to cover this song, since there are already so many lovely covers out there (and the original is already so perfect as is)," she admits, "but hopefully folks are still able to enjoy it." Whether it's zombies on the lawn or the haunting lament of Lady Sylvanas' banshees, we suspect that enjoying Shigihara's work is probably a safe bet. Enjoy!
Where Are They Now? The WoW personalities of 2010 and 2011
Quite a few of today's World of Warcraft players first set foot in Azeroth during the Cataclysm era. The years 2010 and 2011 saw gaming in general move into its own, and we began interviewing more and more WoW players and public personalities who were confident and eager to talk about their game of choice. Are they still playing today in Mists of Pandaria? Many are -- although the exploits of those who aren't are sometimes equally as interesting to hear! Catch up on 2008 and 2009 in part 1 of our retrospective, and be sure click the bold subheadings at the beginning of each entry below to see the original interviews. Pulverizing WoW MMA fighter Jens "Little Evil" Pulver has been trying his hand at Mists while preparing for his next fights. "I have not been inside a dungeon or raid but I have enjoyed leveling a few characters," he writes. "My hunter is my PvP character, and I try to get in a few games in the evening. Outside of WoW, I have been wrapping up my career as a MMA fighter and will be fighting in the semi's of the ONEFC bantamweight Grand Prix in April." Jens is also hard at work on projects including gaming hardware, depression, and motivational speaking; find out more at JensPulver.com or @jens_pulver on Twitter.
Kickstarter project offers hundreds of video game inspired tunes for a few bucks
If you've been looking for a way to experience more video game and video game-inspired music, here's a pretty cheap one-way ticket right into the scene. Nubuwo is a site that's been created to cover exactly this kind of music, and over on Kickstarter they've compiled the talent of 12 different musicians across quite a few games into one big bundle for sale.For $6, you can pick up either a 92-track "Vocal Pack" featuring the likes of Laura Shigihara, Floex, and the great Mega Ran, or a 150-track "Instrumental Pack" with the soundtracks to The Binding of Isaac, Bit Pilot, and ilomilo.For $9, you get both of those, and for $15 you'll get 25 more tracks from excellent indie games like Spelunky and Antichamber, a couple interview segments with Final Fantasy composers Nobuo Uematsu and Kumi Tanioka, and a few other goodies. Higher donations can get you the tunes on actual CDs, and signed by the composers.
Hear the remastered Bejeweled soundtracks for the first time
You know, we didn't even realize Bejeweled games had music. Every time we play one of those joints it's when we're supposed to be doing something else -- so it's always muted, if not half-tucked under our desk on an iPhone, all cocked sideways. Listening to the remastered Bejeweled 2 and 3 soundtracks, now available to stream (or purchase) from the composers' page on online music store Bandcamp, it's clear that we've been missing out. These lively electronic ditties have a lot of spirit -- so why waste them on gem-matching? This could be the mix that finally transforms your mundane ride to work into a "journey," or your half-assed workout into a "quest." Bonus: The Plants vs. Zombies soundtrack is also available on Bandcamp.
15 Minutes of Fame: Laura Shigihara, voice of WoW's Singing Sunflower
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. If you haven't yet lost hours (days? a week? ... more?) inside the zany fun of PopCap Games' mind-blowingly addictive Plants vs. Zombies, you owe it to yourself to click over right this minute (we'll wait here, promise) and take a whiff of those zombies on the lawn for free on the web. Wait, another game? Why should a WoW player like you care? Because the irresistible game with the irresistible theme song (above) is coming to Hillsbrad come Cataclysm in a new quest line celebrating the PopCap hit, and the adorable voice of songstress Laura Shigihara follows close behind in a commemorative Singing Sunflower pet. Shigihara, herself a longtime gamer and WoW player, has won the hearts of the WoW Insider staff with her impishly sweet songs -- the latest, last month's light-hearted Blood Elf Druids. My little fourth-grade daughter adores Shigihara; my big, burly coworkers sigh over Shigihara; and I, uh, seem to edit more than my fair share of posts to the beat of an endless zombie march across the lawn. Join us after the break for an exclusive chat with Shigihara herself about World of Warcraft, Plants vs. Zombies, singing sunflowers and more.
Sunflower sings about blood elf druids
It's no secret that we love Laura Shigihara, the composer for Pop Cap's amazing Plants vs. Zombies and now the voice of Cataclysm's singing sunflower pet. Shigihara has stepped into the WoW machinima world with her own original song and video, Blood Elf Druids, an adorable song making a plea to Blizzard for the inclusion of blood elf druids. Shout-outs to Tooga the turtle are pretty obscure, which makes it even more fun. It's adorable, catchy and a great first shot at machinima. There's even a behind-the-scenes video posted here. If this is the quality of song we're getting for the first video, I cannot wait to see what's coming next. An orc ballad, perhaps? I can only hope.
Singing Sunflower companion pet voiced by Laura Shigihara
If you're a Plants vs. Zombies fan, you are quite familiar with Laura Shigihara, the composer for the PopCap Games plant-a-thon. She is also the voice behind the Plants vs. Zombies theme song. On her blog today, Shigihara confirmed that her voice will be used for the companion pet, the Singing Sunflower, which players receive after completing the Peacebloom versus Ghouls minigame in Hillsbrad. How awesome is that? Besides being fun and kind of novel if you're into PvZ, you get a pretty cool reward for finishing the quest: a "singing sunflower" pet! I actually had no idea this information was public until Hashimoto linked me to TotalHalibut's video earlier tonight... incidentally, I was right in the middle of recording the sunflower's voice when I watched it. ^_^ I am so excited about voicing a WoW-pet because what can I say ... I'm a big nerd. Peacebloom versus Ghouls is a minigame/quest in Hillsbrad that puts the player in charge of Brazie the Botanist's garden of ghoul-destroying plants. If you've played Plants vs. Zombies, you'll feel right at home. Defeat wave after wave of ghouls and you will claim your very own Singing Sunflower companion. These new facts continue to illustrate the intimate and awesome relationship between Blizzard and PopCap, bringing good tidings to gamers who are fans of both excellent companies. Hopefully, more collaborations like this are in store for the future.
