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Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars Prophecies
What's that, you say? A cheap tie-in, you say? Oh, pish posh. It just so happens that I appreciate the rich oeuvre of Jeremy Soule, and the alignment of the planets is... OK, it's a cheap tie-in. I can't help it; Guild Wars has been on my mind this past week, and since the full Guild Wars 2 soundtrack has yet to ship for DirectSong, this will do. Besides, as we well know, music doesn't age at the same pace as games. So why not hit up a soundtrack for the first Guild Wars while we dive into the sequel? At the risk of understatement, I think it's safe to say Jeremy Soule is somewhat well-known in the field of gaming. As a composer, he's tackled projects like Knights of the Old Republic, Icewind Dale, and the last three Elder Scrolls titles. In the Guild Wars community, he is the voice of the musical soul of the game. His compositions are the stuff of heaven: full, ethereal, dreamy. It's almost impossible to separate Soule's work on Guild Wars: Prophecies from the game, especially for those who played Prophecies extensively since its 2005 release. I'll be eager to digest and report on his newest work when it arrives, but until then, let's sample the highlights of his first foray into Tyria.
Jukebox Heroes: Runes of Magic's soundtrack
Welcome back to Jukebox Heroes, the column that dares you to close your eyes and unplug your ears. Well, after you're done reading this opening, of course. So what's the greatest tragedy in modern musical history? Everyone has an answer to that, but mine will be, "How much Runes of Magic's score is overlooked because it's a free-to-play title." Sure, the game shares enough DNA with World of Warcraft that the two titles can never marry or else they'll have inbred children, but RoM's soundtrack is anything but a clone of WoW's. Runes of Magic actually goes toe to toe with some of the greatest music I've ever heard in MMOs, and that's no exaggeration. I have to thank Massively's Jeremy Stratton for turning me on to this particular score. According to a few accounts I've read, Runes of Magic's music is both cobbled together from tracks of other video games as well as original pieces composed specifically for this. I honestly don't care where the music comes from; I just care to turn my speakers all the way up and feel epic when it's playing. So here we go with my absolute favorite tracks from Runes of Magic, minus a couple that I've shared on Massively before!
Jukebox Heroes Extra: Five exclusive DDO music tracks for your listening pleasure
I'll be honest: Part of the reason I'm doing this column is to get my grubby mitts (and ears) on as much MMO music as possible. So while it's great to talk with composers about their projects, I'm even more interesting in hearing the finished result. For a companion piece to my Chance Thomas interview, Turbine sent over five exclusive tracks from Dungeons and Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark. Sound Video Technology Director Steve DiGregorio wrote, performed, and recorded each of these, as both he and Thomas collaborated on Turbine's two expansions. In addition to the tracks and my thoughts on them, DiGregorio provided descriptions of each for illumination. Are you excited? I know I am, so let's hop to it!
Jukebox Heroes: Chance Thomas talks about scoring Turbine's expansions
For many Lord of the Rings Online players, the name Chance Thomas is synonymous with the feel of virtual Middle-earth. From the earliest days in the game, explorers have traversed the Shire, Moria, and beyond listening to Thomas' melodies. So we were excited to hear that Turbine is bringing Thomas back to score not only Riders of Rohan (his first soundtrack for the game since Mines of Moria) but also Dungeons and Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark as well. Thomas is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning composer who's been working primarily in the field of video game music since 1998. Being a huge fan of MMO soundtracks, I made it a personal quest to talk with him about these two new scores and how he feels about working in this genre. In the weeks ahead, I'll be reviewing both Rohan and Underdark's soundtracks, but today I wanted to focus on the man behind the music. Join me, then, as we embark on a voyage to worlds far away, sailing on the wings of a song. Geez, that's cheesy, ain't it?
New LotRO Riders of Rohan video explores Rohan, soundtrack
Turbine has graced us with another behind-the-scenes video focused on Riders of Rohan's production process. This time around, the star is composer Chance Thomas, who says that penning Tolkien-inspired tunes is like "walking on sacred ground." Senior world designer Chris Pierson agrees, and he says that Turbine is aware of the lofty fan expectation surrounding Lord of the Rings Online's Rohan and the horse-culture Tolkien created. "Rohan is one of the strongest elements in the books, in my opinion, as far as stirring the emotions of the readers, captivating them, and creating a mental image of what people expect," Pierson explains. Thomas concurs, and he takes it a step further when discussing the audio work that's going into the expansion. "While the players are playing the game, I'm playing the player with some emotional knobs and sliders to bring their emotions into the experience," Thomas says. Check out the full video after the break. [Source: Turbine press release]
Jukebox Heroes: Aion's soundtrack
Welcome to Jukebox Heroes, a new biweekly column in which we jam an 8-track cassette into the deck and rock out to the best of MMO scores. I've been a huge soundtrack fan since about forever, and I collect both movie and video game scores like crazy. You may have seen this fanaticism peek through in a few of my Perfect Ten columns, and we thought it was time to give the sounds of MMOs their own dedicated space on Massively. Before we go into today's featured soundtrack, I want to establish two ground rules for this column and the discussion that may follow. The first rule is that even though many players turn off MMO music due to repetition, that doesn't mean that the score itself is forgettable. It's just that no music is good enough to listen to 1,047 times in a row. The second rule is that we're going to focus on the music itself without a larger commentary on its MMO. Good games can have terrible music and vice-versa, so it's important to divorce game opinions from musical analysis. Without further ado, I'm going to kick off this series by examining the latest MMO soundtrack I've acquired, Aion's. Aion is a gorgeous game to look at, and its music is just as -- if not more -- beautiful (and if you're not reading MJ's excellent Wings Over Atreia column, shame on you). Let's give it a listen.
The Daily Grind: What is the unofficial soundtrack to your favorite MMO?
Official soundtracks are great; don't get me wrong. But sometimes I like to just throw on some of my own music to better mimic my mood at the time of playing. There are still albums from the late '80s that remind me of Wasteland or Pool of Radiance every time I listen to them -- almost 25 years later! As talented as our favorite game theme composers are, we don't always want to listen to the default soundtrack every time. So what gets you through your game of choice? Do you enjoy some metal? Classical? Country? Oldies? Dubstep... or whatever the kids listen to these days? Let us know! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Buy the greatest song ever written (and other Sonic soundtracks) on iTunes [update]
The pinnacle of all human achievement, "Open Your Heart" from the Sonic Adventure soundtrack, is now available on iTunes, as are a plethora of other Sonic-related albums from across the breadth of time and space. The soundtracks to Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic CD and others can be yours for the paltry sum of $9.99 each, which is a small price to pay for 20 to 30 tracks per album of gloriously ridiculous nostalgia-metal.Soundtracks for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 and Episode 2 will be available before too long, according to Sega. Head on through to the other side for a full list of what's available now and how to get it.Update: As it turns out, these soundtracks have been available since last year or earlier. Sega decided to nest the announcement of forthcoming Episode 1 and Episode 2 soundtracks within a reiteration of the availability of its other musical offerings.
Indie Game Music Bundle 2 now available, with Aquaria, Sworcery, more
You could spend the rest of the day accompanied by the sounds of indie games, for a relative pittance. The second iteration of the Indie Game Music Bundle is available for the next week, offering a Humble-style collection of game soundtrack downloads.For your [any amount of money] you get the soundtracks to Aquaria, Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP, To the Moon, Jamestown, and Machinarium. Hold on -- before you start throwing money at this, there's more you need to know. Pay over $10, and you'll get a pile of additional soundtracks, including Mighty Switch Force and Cat Astro Phi. Physical bonuses will be conferred upon especially high rollers.OK, now you can get your money out.
Official Mario and Zelda songbooks now available in English
The musician/gamer hybrid isn't as rare as one might think; spending five minutes on YouTube searching for "piano covers" is proof enough that the musically inclined among us are continuing to explore their passion for video games in creative and expressive ways. One of the major hurdles facing musical gamers (or gamicians, if you will) is the difficulty inherent in finding official sheet music or tabulature for video-game soundtracks. Songbooks are often expensive and in Japanese -- if they even exist in the first place. Now though, the hunt for gaming sheet music has just gotten a little easier.Four officially licensed Nintendo-oriented songbooks are now available in The Queen's English from Alfred Music Publishing. The books, Super Mario for Guitar, Super Mario for Piano, Super Mario for Easy Piano and The Legend of Zelda for Piano each contain more than 30 songs from various games in their respective series. What's more, Super Mario for Piano and The Legend of Zelda for Piano are also available in ebook format on Apple's iBookstore.Each book retails for between $16.99 and $19.99, and while Mario and Zelda aren't exactly obscure, there's something to be said for learning the classics. Let's hope this is the beginning of a new trend in localizing gaming sheet music; we'd give up an arm for a Mega Man 3 songbook. No, wait, we'd give up a leg. We need that arm to play music.
Indie Royale celebrates 25K downloads with two more games, soundtracks
The Indie Royale bundle started last week has hit over 25,000 sales so far. That means two more games and a music and DLC bundle have been added to the mix of things you get for a very cheap price. In addition to NightSky, Fate of the World, Scoregasm, and the Ben and Dan titles, you can now pick up shooters Irukandji and Bullet Candy Perfect as part of the deal, and the full DLC and soundtrack for Fate of the World is given to buyers as well. That's a whole lot of amazing indie gaming, no question. And while we were worried the price might go up (it rises over time, and drops as people purchase the bundle for more than the average), it hasn't: You can still get all of this stuff for the price of $3.49. Black Friday hasn't hit us yet, but it's probably a safe bet that this is one of the best deals you'll see in gaming this holiday season. Ball's in your court, bundle buyer.
The Road to Mordor: Soundtrack bonanza!
One of the probably-not-very-interesting things about me is that I'm somewhat of a video game soundtrack aficionado. Ever since MP3s became all the rage, I've been collecting my favorite tunes from console and computer games, often replacing the in-game score with my own personal soundtrack. MMO soundtracks, as a whole, are hit or miss with me. While there are many incredible pieces out there, a bulk of what you find is low-key atmospheric stuff that isn't meant to be on anyone's Top 40 playlist. Lord of the Rings Online has its up and downs as a soundtrack, but overall it really does evoke the spirit of Middle-earth. It's hard to imagine playing the game, especially the early levels, without hearing these tracks. I've collected both the soundtracks to Shadows of Angmar and Mines of Moria and have been saving them for a special occasion. Today is that special occasion. These were composed by Chance Thomas (who's scored many Lord of the Rings-related games) and Stephen DiGregorio. Ranging from bombastic to sinister to folksy, this score covers the gamut of themes and emotions related to the journey of the Ring. It's cool to listen to it independently of the game, as you can appreciate the score for what it is -- and see how the pieces evoke memories of your times in LotRO. Instead of individually reviewing all 40 or so tracks, I'm simply going to pick my 10 most favorite to share with you!
Original Clover soundtrack available for free
Presumably doing a little early spring cleaning, the team at Binary Tweed have released the complete soundtrack to its original Xbox Live Indie Game Clover. For the low, low price of free, those who download the soundtrack will be treated to a piano assortment composed and recorded by Chris Chillingworth (he's got a MySpace, so he's legit). Clover is scheduled to make its PC debut with a new "longer, sexier" musical accompaniment on March 3 with Clover: A Curious Tale. Hopefully the new version doesn't disappoint. Download the free album here.
Ivor Novello awards to recognize music from video games
Get out those SAT skills! The Ivor Novello awards : Grammys :: The SAG awards : Oscars. They're the smarter, more peer-reviewed way for the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors to reward excellent songwriting and composing. And as the BBC reports, for the first time, it'll be honoring video game music. The bleeps and bloops of your favorite console games are becoming one of just six total categories at the Ivors this May. And it's because they aren't just bleeps and bloops any more. A member of the award committee says that the music in video games has "matured beyond recognition," and that composing music for games pulls some muscles that most composers don't have, like "non-linear and multi-layered composition." No word on the nominees yet, but keep in mind, any game you nominate needs to have at least 1/3 of the composers be British or Irish, according to the Ivor rules. For instance, the music for Flower was great, but unless there's a hidden "O'" in front of Vincent Diamante's last name, you probably won't see it win.
Resident Evil and Street Fighter join the Capcom music store
For the longest time, we didn't understand game soundtracks. "Hey, just turn the game on and walk away," we said. But after our 17th red ring and 10th Cell chip to commit melty, plasticy suicide, we quickly began to see the value. Capcom's feeding our new habit with three new additions to the Music section of the Capcom Store: Ten Years Of Resident Evil: The Official Soundtrack, Resident Evil 5: Original Soundtrack and Street Fighter IV: Original Soundtrack. If you too are hesitant about leaping into game soundtracks, Capcom's sweetening the offer with 25 percent off the Mega Man 9 score for anyone who purchases one of the new offerings.
The Daily Grind: The soundtrack to your virtual life
I can't work without background noise and one of the great things about working from home is that I get to decide what that is. I devour boxsets and films and have endless playlists on iTunes. Recently though I've started listening to music while I play MMOs. You'd think the in-game soundtrack would suffice but I find if I'm doing something like grinding I need specific tracks. I've started listening to music while raiding which is often difficult as I'm also on voice chat talking tactics at the same time. However the music does help, especially when it comes to timed or phase encounters.I'm curious, readers, do you have playlists for raids? What about grinding? Do you find music helps you get through the more boring bits of your game of choice? On the other hand, do you think in-game music is perfect? Do you find yourself listening to other game soundtracks?
Real-time symphony: Halo Wars soundtrack detailed
The original soundtrack for Halo Wars will be available at supply depots and civilian stores starting February 17th. The 2-disc set is comprised of one CD -- featuring 50 minutes of music composed by Stephen Rippy (Age of Empires, Age of Mythology) and performed by the FILMharmonic Orchestra and Choir Prague -- and a DVD boasting nine more tracks, some 5.1 mixes, two trailers and one behind-the-scenes video.The soundtrack can also be downloaded from the intertubes at sumthingdigital.com. Halo Wars will have a demo available as of February 5, and ship to North American retailers on March 3.%Gallery-1676%[Via X3F]
The Daily Grind: The silence is deafening
Sometimes I think my life has a soundtrack. Heavens knows I keep my music on nearly all the time in one form or another. Endlessly cycling through songs on my desktop, my mp3 player with me when I'm not near my computer. Even my crackberry has song clips as ring tones rather than just regular ring tones. So the idea of doing anything without music makes me twitchy. As mentioned in Yesterday on Massively, I spent quite a bit of time in EVE last night. While zipping around, it dawned on me that EVE is probably one of the few games that I actually listen to the in-game soundtrack on. Now this isn't to downplay the excellent soundtracks of games like World of Warcraft and the like. But I'll be honest -- I've gotten sick of WoW's music as I've heard nearly all of it by now -- myriad times. As such today's question is: what in-game music has been something you've just gone bonkers for, and you will actually keep your music off for? Are there any such games? If not, what kind of music would you like to hear as a game soundtrack? For that matter, what kinds of things do you listen to if it's not the in-game music?
Mass Effect soundtrack due November 20
While most Xbox 360 owners prepare to trek down to their favorite store or wait no-so patiently by the mailbox tomorrow for their chance to play BioWare's latest opus Mass Effect, Sumthing Else Music Works has announced that players can also pick up the game's official soundtrack on November 20, perfect for those times spent plotting against Saren while away from the console.The soundtrack was put together by veteran game music composers Jack Wall (Myst, Jade Empire) and Sam Hulick (Maximo vs. Army of Zin), with additional tracks by Richard Jacques (The Club) and film and television composer David Kates (Battlestar Galactica, Man of the Year). More interesting than the name dropping, however, is that soundtrack's blend of " 80's electronic music with modern orchestral scoring" apparently takes inspiration from some of our favorite films, such as Blade Runner and Dune, all but guaranteeing a trip to the cash register. What can we say? We're weak.
Halo 3 soundtrack is coming and you could be on it
When the soundtrack for Halo 3 is released, it's going to have a track that you won't remember from any levels of the game. No, this track will be the product of one lucky contest winner who'll be picked by Halo composer Marty O'Donnell, Steve Vai and "hit artists including The Used and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus," for reasons that we can't begin to fathom.The odd part is that your band's song doesn't even have to have anything to do with Halo 3. It just has to be a song. Any song. At all. If you're interested in submitting your in-no-way-Halo-3-related song, check out (snicker) Master Chief's MySpace.
