vincent-diamante
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Six years in, Journey studio rewards itself with two new hires
Did you know that today is thatgamecompany's sixth birthday? It's true! In those six years, the team of approximately a dozen people created Flow, Flower, and, most recently, Journey, all the while cementing their place as heads of the art games movement. The company recently completed its contract with Sony for three exclusive titles, but that doesn't mean it's resting on past successes. For instance, TGC is already in talks with publishers for whatever's next.Alongside its success, some big names at the studio recently moved on – co-founder Kellee Santiago and executive producer Robin Hunicke both exited in the past few months, following the launch of Journey this past March. Today, TGC adds two new employees.In light of its big sixth birthday, thatgamecompany is announcing the appointment of two new stars: former director of marketing and business development of PowerMMO Games, Sunni Pavlovic, becomes studio manager, and taking up the new position of audio director is Cloud and Flower contributor Vincent Diamante.In a prepared statement from TGC, Diamante said, "I'm very excited to be a part of thatgamecompany, joining forces with both friends from past projects as well as new faces. The last time around, I worked with TGC mostly as a music contractor. Things this time around will be a bit different, as I'll be dealing with all sound and music issues on their upcoming game."Diamante related his first several weeks at TGC as akin to "tight-rope walking with chainsaws," which is, like, the exact opposite of what we imagine working at TGC to be like. Isn't it all floaty stuff and soft music? Quit ruining our illusions, Diamante! You've only just started!
Flower composer talks about game's soundtrack
Intelligent use of visuals and sound is one of the reasons that makes Flower such a surreal experience, and it was the job of composer Vincent Diamante to manifest this PSN dream world through music. He recently spoke with GameSetWatch to discuss his work in Flower, revealing some interesting bits on how the music not only affected the atmosphere of the game but also the design. Diamante mentioned that the Sixaxis controls influenced the way he wrote his music. He called it a "soft type of control" and that "you can feel that there is a texture to the way you fly through the air." This texture, he added, would determine how he'd write music for "the winds." Conversely, Diamante also influenced the game design: "I had the opportunity to talk with the artists about the arrangement of flowers: tightening up lines of flowers or stretching them out, replacing red flowers with white flowers, and so forth so that the sound would work." Lastly, those gamers looking to score a soundtrack might be in some luck. Diamante revealed he's in talks with Sony to put out an album; though, he does say the music lends itself more to the game experience over that of an album experience. Have a read of the full interview here.
