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Metacritic changes its user review policy to combat score bombing
To prevent score bombing, Metacritic makes users wait 36 hours before reviewing a brand new game.
Thom Yorke's new album comes with a Netflix short film
The same day Thom Yorke's upcoming album ANIMA comes out, he'll release a short musical film directed by frequent collaborator Paul Thomas Anderson. The one-reeler will be set to three ANIMA tracks, and Yorke is expected to both score and star in the production. Netflix, which released a trailer today, calls the film a "mind-bending visual piece" and says it's best played loud.
The Pixel 3 and Galaxy Note 9 top DxOMark's new selfie camera scores
We use the selfie camera on our smartphones up to 40 percent of the time, yet most testing puts the emphasis on the rear camera. To address that issue, DxOMark has introduced scoring for front-facing smartphone cameras based on criteria like skin tone and color accuracy, sharpness, contrast, exposure and more. A number of cameras have already been tested, and the models on top, by a wide margin, are Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 and the Google Pixel 3, both with overall scores of 92. Rounding out the top five were Xiaomi's Mi Mix 3, the Apple iPhone XS Max and Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, with scores of 84, 82 and 81 respectively.
Movies Anywhere link unlocks a score-only 'The Last Jedi' extra
If you watched Star Wars: The Last Jedi and thought "this would be better if we just removed all the words and sound effects" then we have a treat for you John Williams fans. Now that the movie is out for home viewing on digital services (the 4K Blu-ray and other disc versions go on sale March 27th), director Rian Johnson revealed buyers have access to a silent film-style score-only version of the movie. It's not the first time we've seen something like this (having one might have improved the Tron: Legacy home release, but that movie's director made sure there was a score-only version included with his next movie, Oblivion), but there is an extra wrinkle: Movies Anywhere.
London’s best orchestra is putting on a PlayStation concert
PlayStation, Classic FM and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are teaming up to bring new meaning to the term "gaming culture". This May, PlayStation in Concert comes to London's Royal Albert Hall, bringing to life music used in games from Original PlayStation, PS2, PS3 and PS4, performed by the 80-strong Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and City of London Choir. Expect the sweeping soundscapes of The Last of Us, The Last Guardian, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and LittleBigPlanet, among others. And there will be a "spectacular" light show, too.
Google Play removed thousands of legit ‘Game Dev Tycoon’ reviews
Google has removed some 77 percent of reviews for Game Dev Tycoon's mobile port on Google Play. Developer Greenheart Games contacted Google to find out why the (mostly) five-star reviews were disappearing, and was told that the scores were removed on purpose, with little other explanation. Greenheart's theory is that Google uses the same algorithm to police free-to-play game reviews on the Play store that it does paid games; Game Dev Tycoon costs $5 and you can't write a review unless you've purchased it. Free-to-play games, on the other hand, anyone can write a review with practically no time investment.
Valve thinks charts will negate Steam review bombing
Review bombing in the gaming community is a woefully old concept, but after it took the spotlight again this month, following yet another racist outburst from YouTuber PewDiePie, Valve is taking action to mitigate the damaging effects it can have on game developers. Instead of single review scores, game pages will now be accompanied by a histogram displaying a visual history of user reviews.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross made a song for NASA's Juno mission
Nine Inch Nails frontman and Apple Music contributor Trent Reznor has another project with his film soundtrack partner Atticus Ross. This time around, the duo has created a nearly 9-minute track to celebrate NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter. The single song is available now on iTunes ahead of the probe's scheduled July 4th arrival in the planet's orbit. NASA's solar-powered spacecraft was launched five years ago, but soon it'll arrive at Jupiter to begin the task of measuring, studying and photographing the planet. For a behind-the-scenes look at the mission, check out our recent Juno feature.
TomTom's Golfer 2 GPS watch tracks your swing
TomTom's original Golfer GPS watch can give your distance and score, but the latest golf devices from Piq and Game Golf also track your swing and distance stats. To keep up, TomTom has launched the Golfer 2, a watch that measures your swing using a built-in motion sensor and gyroscope. That lets you "see at a glance glance how far you've hit each ball, show your distance potential, and create a detailed post-round analysis" on the MySports app, according to the company. It only counts one shot in a 10-foot area, letting you take as many practice swings as you need.
'Monument Valley' is the latest game soundtrack going vinyl
Monument Valley was one of the most interesting, unique and beautiful games released in 2014 on any platform. Forget that fact that it's "just" a mobile game -- developer UsTwo build an extremely memorable experience, and the game's music contributed heavily to that experience. If you want to immerse yourself in the game's soundscape, the geeky art purveyors iam8bit have just the thing for you -- the soundtrack for Monument Valley will go up for sale on vinyl tomorrow.
The new 'Back to the Future' vinyl box set is a work of art
The so-called "future day" -- the day that Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel forward in time to in Back to the Future Part II -- is fast approaching. As such, the movie and music memorabilia masters at Mondo have put together a truly fitting record collection: The score for all three Back to the Future films will be available in full on vinyl for the first time. You can either pick up each movie individually as a two-record set for $35 each, or you can get all six records in an amazingly creative and beautiful box set. The full box set will run you $105. The individual album versions feature new artwork by Matt Taylor, who previously created screen-print Back to the Future posters for Mondo, while the box set artwork and design was done by DKNG Studios.
'Shenmue' and 'Streets of Rage' tunes are headed to vinyl
When it comes to classic Sega games, they don't get much bigger (or better) than Shenmue and Streets of Rage. They were released more than eight years apart and on completely different consoles, but they share an important trait: incredible sound. Now, as Polygon reports, a London-based record label called Data Discs is planning to release both soundtracks on vinyl later this year. They'll be priced at £19.99 (roughly $31) and pressed on 180 gram vinyl, complete with lithographic artwork prints. The company is also working with Streets of Rage composer Yuzo Koshiro to remaster the tunes from the side-scrolling beat 'em up, ensuring fans get the best experience possible on their turntables. Pre-orders start on May 30th and there are "exclusive editions" for those who spend their cash early, however the first wave of records isn't expected to leave the warehouse until September.
Chance Thomas announces official end to his LOTRO score
While the Lord of the Rings Online score will go on, Chance Thomas' contributions to it will not be a part of the future of the game. The composer announced that despite personal and fan efforts to bring him back, Turbine has declined to use him for future releases, citing tight resources. "Looks like we've come to the end of an era," Thomas wrote on a Facebook post. "I need to thank you for your remarkable support over the years. I'm not sure a composer could have a better playground than Middle-earth, or a more gracious community to share it with." Thomas composed the music for the base game as well as the Mines of Moria and Riders of Rohan expansions. He recently contributed to the score of Dota 2.
Hear snippets of Chance Thomas' Dota 2 score
Composer Chance Thomas has revealed his latest project: creating a Compendium score for Dota 2. In a new behind-the-scenes video, you can see Thomas conducting a choir and orchestra as they perform snippets of various tracks for the popular MOBA. Thomas previously worked on MMOs such as Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. You can watch the Dota 2 soundtrack video after the jump!
Paul McCartney assists with Destiny's soundtrack
Destiny will have another prestigous feather in its cap when it launches on September 9th: ex-Beatles musician Paul McCartney as one of the composers. McCartney joined the project in 2010, joining Composer Marty O'Donnell in creating the score for the game. He claimed to be intrigued by the challenge of writing music for this type of game and met with O'Donnell at London's Abbey Road Studios to work on it. In fact, the theme song for Destiny is a Paul McCartney original and will be released as a single following the game's launch. The title of the theme song has not been revealed, but its theme is about "hope."
Shroud of the Avatar preps PvP update and asks for player music submissions
Shroud of the Avatar is ready to pull the trigger on Release 8 and the game's PvP system. Release 8 will come out next week and feature a massive host of PvP changes that have apparently gotten the dev team hooked. "The team's 30 minute PvP play sessions every morning are growing longer and longer as we're having too much fun to stop," the devs wrote. Portalarium is also putting out a call to the community to help crowdsource Shroud of the Avatar's soundtrack. The team has a list compiled to guide player composers in creating and submitting their own music for the game.
Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars Eye of the North's soundtrack
The final Guild Wars soundtrack not only took the first game out in style but instantly became one of the best of the series to date. I'm not willing to put it above Prophecies, but it's not too far behind, either. As a whole, it's a wonderful symphonic journey through new lands and new themes, and just about every track is quite listenable. You can't deny that this is Guild Wars to its very core, as composer Jeremy Soule only adds on to the franchise's legacy rather than supplants it with a different direction. Even so, it represents a mastery that wasn't quite there in past albums. If I listened to this soundtrack without knowing its source, I would have pegged it as a major motion picture release rather than a video game with angry bears. It was definitely a difficult score to pick a mere six examples from; I'd recommend that soundtrack enthusiasts listen through its entirety. For a Guild Wars 2 player, it's really interesting to go back and hear the early versions of tracks that Soule would later reprise for the sequel.
Archlord 2 invites players to name soundtrack pieces
Archlord 2's soundtrack is not only out and available as a free download, but Webzen is asking players to title the 20 nameless pieces in time for the game's release. The soundtrack by composer Cris Velasco is on SoundCloud and is available for a listen or a download. Players can check out the tracks and then, if inspired, they can submit one or more titles to go along with them. Webzen promised that when all 20 tracks get proper names, it will flip on the switch for a 20% bonus gold weekend in the game.
Listen to Guild Wars 2 Season 2's soundtrack now
Were you intrigued -- tantalized, perhaps -- with the recent talk on Guild Wars 2's new orchestra-recorded soundtrack for the second season of the living world? Well now you can listen to a chunk of it, thanks to the studio and SoundCloud. The team has posted six new tracks for the first episode of season two, including "The Fall of the Zephyrites" and "The Arid Sands." Check out ArenaNet's SoundCloud page to listen through them and let us know what you think!
Destiny parts ways with composer, growing 'close to shipping'
Destiny Composer Marty O'Donnell was either fired or peacefully left Bungie last week, depending on whether you take his or the studio's testimony on the event. In either case, the fact remains that O'Donnell is no longer part of the studio. Bungie Chief Operating Officer Pete Parsons refused to comment on the specifics of the decision but said that the game is still on track for release. He said that O'Donnell's contributions will remain part of the soundtrack, which is also being worked on by a few others. "We have a fantastic team. We're pretty close to shipping. There's a lot of polish left to do, lots of tweaking and tuning, but a lot is already complete," Parsons said to Eurogamer. Bungie claims that the studio and O'Donnell parted as "friends" while the composer tweeted yesterday that he was "terminated without cause."
