Colony of Gamers - Blogs http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php This is a discussion forum powered by vBulletin. To find out about vBulletin, go to http://www.vbulletin.com/ . en Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:09:40 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/images/misc/rss.jpg Colony of Gamers - Blogs http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php Tipping in Dark Souls rocks! http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1298 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:23:35 GMT I just had an amazing experience in Dark Souls today that really made me glad to be a part of that game, as a player. TLDR I got unexpectedly... I just had an amazing experience in Dark Souls today that really made me glad to be a part of that game, as a player.

TLDR I got unexpectedly tipped a humanity in Dark Souls and it was awesome! but you really should read the story. :)

Ok, so I'm a level 40 cleric and I currently rock a +5 Mace which works pretty well on the enemies I encounter, but is generally worthless in PvP against anyone with better equipment. I spent a bit of time today building up 20k souls to buy the crest to get me into the Darkroot Forest, home of Alvina (see white cat in the inset pic). She's the Forest's eternal guardian and contracts players that intrude on the forest to defend it from any other player not in the covenant. She gives you a ring, that when equipped will randomly summon you to another person's game as a dark phantom. This person has to be in Alvina's part of the forest and HUMAN, Hollowed players get NPC player class humans who are pretty fucking tough at my level. By the way, I LOVE Alvina's voice work. It's like Eartha Kitt sexyness with a backdrop of actual feline purrs and growls. IT'S AMAZING! As a defender it's my job to kill intruders, however... I'm horrible at PvP and usually die pretty quick my only consolation is that I don't lose any souls if I am defeated. I do want to acquire at least five kills as a defender to get the rewards that Alvina dishes out, plus it's a really neat concept. The large majority of the forest's intruders are seasoned veterans on their 2nd or 3rd run through the entire game. Alvina doesn't discriminate against player level when she summons you. I think I got summoned about 12 times in about a half hour. I was in a few of the same veteran player's worlds multiple times. Most of them bowed (which is great!) as my hollowed corpse disintegrated in front of them after one volley of spells or weapon swing, and most had a summoned partner with them, so it was usually 2 on 1 against me. Sometimes, it was a group summon and there was another defender around, in any case, I am woefully under prepared for the situation. I do my best and try to be clever, but usually eat it pretty quick. The game announces who is being summoned to who's world, so both people know who is in there world.

Anyway, so I'm summoned to Outlander95's world like three times. First time, he smoked me like a pro. The second time, I come in shield up, but I don't attack, just to see what would happen. Circle around with shields raised for a bit and then he stops and drops something on the ground and backs away. I cautiously approach what he dropped, keep in mind, this is like my 5th summoning as a defender on my first run through of the game. I don't really know what's going on, it could be a trick for all i know. I'm surprised that I can pick the object up and keep it in my inventory.. even more so that it's a HUMANITY, something that I always am needing and in this form I can never lose it to death. It was a tip! Made all the other deaths so worth it! I checked his profile out and he has 800 points in Dark Souls, he's a vet, he's been in my shoes before and he's paying it forward like he should. Made my gaming day! So, Outlander95, good on you! Keep doing what you're doing! Cheers!

Yeah, I'm having a completely wonderful time in Dark Souls so far. Mostly, I can't wait to finish it so I can run through again with a better idea of what I need to do, etc. I love that this game is structured in this way, for me it's great and I'll surely pay it forward in later run throughs when I figure out how to make getting humanity not so much of a problem. ]]> shodan2020 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1298 I now have a Wii with Internet! http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1297 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:06:07 GMT Hey guys, I got a Wii for Christmas this year. Here's my friend code if you're interested in seeing my Mii and my Neon Genesis Evangelion Miis:
5977-5244-0624-7087

Feel free to post your codes in this post if you'd like. :) ]]> shodan2020 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1297 <![CDATA[[Music] Worth Mentioning - Nov. 22nd, 2011]]> http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1296 Wed, 23 Nov 2011 01:59:14 GMT Tuesday! The big day, when all the new stuff hits – except for those extra-special titles that beg to be different. Last Tuesday was Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Jurassic Park: The Game, Saint's Row: The Third, Colon: The Oscopy and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on Friday. That's like four new albums from bands you love, just waiting to be heard! Also... some ABBA. For the dancing queen in all of us. Come on over to the thread and check it out.


It's Tuesday again! New release day! What do we have on the soundtrack shelf for this last week?

Saint's Row: The Third
has two kinds of music to talk about – the original stuff by prolific live musician Malcolm Kirby Jr. and the 150+ radio tracks available across eight radio stations in the game. The playlist for each station has some pretty excellent selections in each category, side by side with some pretty terrible ones – pick a genre, and on the mix CD that they call a radio station there will be at least one artist who you hate. Still, 90% of it is fun stuff, and it fits the mood of the game well, with most of the musical choices portraying a sort of goofy bad-assery. I especially dig the Adult Swim station with Unknown Hinson, Danger Doom and Dethklok all in attendance. You can check out the complete radio tracklisting at the Wiki.


Actual gameplay footage.

Malcolm Kirby Jr. has put together the original score. This guy has played and recorded with a lot of talented artists like the Campbell Brothers, John Medeski and Terrence Howard. He did the film score for a few terrible movies - "Cop Out" and "The Love Guru", as well as the TV show Pimp My Ride, and maybe that's a pretty good resume for the music-maker behind a Saint's Row title. Kirby Jr.'s production style is mired in the nineties, with a lot of West Coast rap, grunge and club influence in the beats and in the overall tone. Even his ambient stuff will remind you of things you've heard before. In the end, blending elements of multiple genres together has resulted in something entirely tolerable, even effective. You're not going to hate it, and there's plenty of hooks to latch your groove onto. It's also kindof forgettable. His original soundtrack is available for sale at Amazon, and other digital distribution sites.



Who's playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword? The music of the Zelda series has consistently been catchy and clever, even when it was bleak and subdued – I'm looking at you, Twilight Princess. I've been listening to Skyward Sword tracks all weekend, and Nintendo has finally moved away from the electronic stylings of the N64. It's a good move. Full orchestration of some old themes and plenty of new ones is a welcome, necessary style change to the Zelda franchise. I'm a guy who loves synthesized sound, and yet after listening to the Skyward Sword soundtrack for a few days, I hope they never go back.



Jurassic Park: The Game has pretty lackluster music when it isn't dragging John Williams' epic score out of the mausoleum to shuffle around on display for us. There's some fun to be had here if you're a fan of Isla Nublar, but the instrumentation – terrible synthesizers – will grate on the sensitive ear. They would have been better off just using the original film tunage.



Assassin's Creed: Revelations! The return of Jesper Kyd, composer behind the Hitman series and each Assassin's Creed title. I really like his style, Kyd uses a lot of organic and electronic sounds together in his work, and it's a very cutting-edge style. It's really groovy when you're running around some Rennaisance city and the background tune is using classic instrumentation and chord progression to do modern things. Jesper's music does the difficult – it succesfully captures the conflicting moods of a person in the present who is living a life in the past. Technology and history, blended together and molded into music! The soundtrack is available on Amazon.



Rhythm Releases

ABBA: You Can Dance! You heard me, an ABBA specific dancing title is sitting on store shelves for the price of $40. I have to wonder who the market is for this stuff. Some of the dance games that we've seen in the last few months are such an obvious cash-grab - they take an established game engine, slap some new tunes in it and change up the performing artist, and I guess somewhere out there is a Wii owner who just has to bring home the newest ABBA title? I blame hipsters. This week they get 26 tracks of un-ironically terrible music to ironically enjoy, and I hope they choke on it.


My only friend.

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans! I cut it short this week because I have pies to bake (I got my apron ready and everything) but I'll be back next week, when the gushing onslaught of awesome games finally slows to a trickle, and we get a chance to talk about some of the other awesome video-game related albums floating around. Looking for something new to listen to, some music that scratches your digital itch without being mindless background ambience? I might have just the thing. Stay tuned! ]]> Mr. Murphy http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1296 <![CDATA[[Music] Worth Mentioning - Nov. 9th, 2011 to Nov. 15th, 2011]]> http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1295 Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:07:22 GMT Another big week in a big season for video games! We got *Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3* ... Another big week in a big season for video games! We got Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with music by Brian Tyler, the composer who wrote original music for the recent Battle: Los Angeles movie and the cult classics Frailty and Six String Samurai.

Tyler has done a lot of stuff, actually, including the 2004 and 2006 Olympic Games and the 2006 SuperBowl. Attaching him to your game is going to cost you a lot of money and not get noticed by a lot of people. Was it worth it? When you're barrel-deep in multiplayer, do you even notice his score? I don't have the game so I can't speak for the in-game experience, but as symphonic music on it's own terms, I enjoyed listening to the album quite a bit while I was working. It's the kind of chilling, sweeping symphony pieces that carry you along with strings and ghostly choir voices while war-drum beats drive you onwards. It's action movie music, but even though it's not groundbreakingly original, it is certainly good. The soundtrack is available for purchase on Amazon, iTunes and a number of digital download services.



L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition takes place during the 19040's, and the music is a huge part of taking the player back to that grittier time. Composed by Andrew and Simon Hale, obviously inspired by various film noir scores, the main trumpet theme sets the mood right off the bat, and it's super-smooth and crazy sexy.


Not a radio.

The dramatic elements that spring up during gameplay maintain the jazzy feel, and the action tracks have a busy-city environment embedded in the very music itself. There are a few tracks composed for a small jazz ensemble, credited to Andrew Hale, and three 1940's style original pieces at the end of the soundtrack CD, performed by The Real Tuesday Weld with synthpop singer Claudia Brucken on vocals, and it all blends together into a really, really great soundtrack CD that anyone who enjoys the film-noir vibe should experience. There's also a Verve Remix album, six tracks from the noir era, remixed by modern artists.



The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has had it's score composed by the award-winning Jeremy Soule who was first heard on the videogame scene when he did amazing things with the SNES sound capabilities in The Secret of Evermore. His work was the first time the boopy-beeps of the 16-bit era were used to create environmental, ambient effects rather than strictly melody-based catchy tunes. In the almost two decades since then, he's probably become best known for his work on many Harry Potter titles or for the Elder Scrolls games Morrowind, Oblivion and now Skyrim. Soule uses electronic equipment to emulate an orchestra so well that you really can rarely tell the difference, although in this release he utilized a live choir for the vocal sections. His production quality leaves the tone of his music very open and expansive, and it suits the mood beautifully while exploring the vast world of Skyrim. If you're familiar with the series, you might have noticed the classic Elder Scrolls theme move it's way into the melody of the main theme of Elder Scrolls V. Chanting vikings, deep and booming rumble-drums, and resonant horns mark the style of the frozen north, and it's hard not to get goosebumps when his epic score comes barreling in on the wings of a dragon.

With his brother Julian he has founded DirectSong, a company that sells DRM-free downloads of several composers. His Skyrim soundtrack is available there, and all physical copies ordered before December 23rd will be autographed by the man himself.



Rhythm Releases

Michael Jackson The Experience wants you to bring the glittered glove home to your children. 27 tracks, each with a unique dance choreography to master.


Hopefully it's an experience that doesn't require years of therapy to repair.

You get all the classics, so if you wanna be starting something, bad, take that money you earned working day and night, beat it to the store like a speed demon and grab a copy to rock with you.



The Black Eyed Peas Experience will provide you with 32 tracks worth of Black Eyed Peas inspired dances to learn. The songs remain generally uncensored, although you won't hear the F word in any of them. The legendary masterpiece "My Humps" will play in full glory while your little girl (or for added surreality, little boy) breaks it down.



Nickelodeon Dance features Nickelodeon theme songs and classic oldies-station staples, all sung by Nickelodeon characters for the enjoyment of children and irritation of adults alike. If you have a little tyke in your home who loves to move, this could be a fun way to teach them some preliminary dance-moves, but the age range here spikes fairly low. I could see my 8 year old niece calling it "babyish", although your kids might not be in such a rush to grow up.



Maybe You Missed It

This week we had an awesome High-Def re-release, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. They kept the original music with this one, pieces by Harry Gregson-Williams and Norihiko Hibino. Gregson-Williams used to work on film scores with Hans Zimmer in the nineties, and you can hear the influence in this score. That isn't a bad thing. Recently his movie work has included X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Cowboys & Aliens and the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man reboot. Norihiko Hibino is a Japanese composer (and saxaphonist!) who has been mentioned twice already in Music Worth Mentioning for his work on Ace Combat: Assault Horizon and Otomedius Excellent. He is something of a First Officer on the games he works on, providing original compositions but rarely taking the captains' chair for full musical control. Both Gregson-Williams and Norihiko Hibino have been involved with all the music for the Metal Gear Solid seires since Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and this HD Collection of three PS2 era Metal Gear Solid titles is a great way to experience their work. Their music is fun. Gregson-Williams is a master at the Zimmer inspired epic action music score, and Hibino loves to use Bond-style spy-movie stings to flavor his bad-guy themes from metal Gear Solid 3 with a certain cold war flair. Check out what I mean.


These games aren't everyone's cup of tea, what with the eye-blisteringly long cutscenes and convoluted plots, but the soundtracks for both games are available for sale at Amazon and maintain a high star rating. This is mostly action music, with a lot of momentum! Play it in your car and all the sudden driving through town is a living a chase scene. The work this duo did on the early PS2 title Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty helped cement video games as a medium for cinematic experiences, and captured the strange combination of light humor and intense espionage action that is the defining mood of Metal Gear Solid, and if you missed these games the first time around, there's no better way to bone up on your gaming history than by picking up this collection.


Oddly enough, I found this picture during a Google image search for LA Noir.

Check out more video game music over at the rainwave streaming radio, and I'll see you next week, when we'll be talking about Saint's Row: The Third and ABBA! ]]> Mr. Murphy http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1295 <![CDATA[[Music] Worth Mentioning - Nov. 1st, 2011 to Nov. 8th, 2011]]> http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1294 Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:01:50 GMT Are you starting to recognize the name Inon Zur? (http://www.inonzur.com/) The man responsible for the music of *The Lord of the Rings: War in... Are you starting to recognize the name Inon Zur?

The man responsible for the music of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North has quite a resume and a pretty odd moniker, one that has popped up on your screen if you've played a Prince of Persia title in the last ten years, Fallout 3 and it's sequel, or if you were into the anime classic Escaflowne or the Power Rangers in the nineties. In this case, he's once more stuck in that difficult position where a composer needs to create original score pieces for a property that has an established musical style. Success is a fine line between imitation and irrelevance. Inon Zur is a master, however, and the background for War in the North is perfect. You'll be listening to original pieces but you will feel like you've entered the Peter Jackson inspired Middle-Earth. I have friends who still listen to the the movie scores – if that describes you, you should check out the soundtrack for Lord of the Rings: War in the North, available through Amazon.



When it comes to authentic James Bond music, nowadays you can't do any better than David Arnold, the man behind every Bond movie score from Tomorrow Never Dies to the upcoming Skyfall, and some pretty awesome movies and television shows that demonstrate his stylistic range – this is the guy you heard in Independence Day and more recently in the new BBC Sherlock. Arnold composed original variations on his pieces for Goldeneye 007: Reloaded and they sound amazing. Kicking ass while the Bond theme plays is a necessary part of any good James Bond game, so it's nice to know you'll be getting the authentic experience here.



Otomedius Excellent is a phrase that just may have slipped under your radar. It's a pretty unique game, a Konami side-scroller bullet hell shoot-em-up featuring female versions of classic Konami spaceships. Yeah.

The soundtrack is comprised entirely of remixed tracks from past series releases, mostly Gradius Gaiden and the Gradius arcade themes. This is video game music that sounds great as you are playing, frantic and fun, but it's not something you'd want to listen to on its own.



I've been hearing good things about Sonic Generations, and while I can't speak for the gameplay, the music is definitely working for me. The game involves both classic Sonic and modern Sonic levels, with a different track for each version of the level, so we get excellent remasters of classic sonic themes as well as some truly well-produced modern remixes of Jen Sonoue's original music. A lot of the “Modern” tracks are heavily club inspired, with a nice fuzzy techno sound, and that crazy upbeat Sonic the Hedgehog tinge that Sonoue's music always brings to mind.

Remember that drowning theme that would kick in when you were just seconds from death, struggling to push a sluggish Sonic towards that next air bubble? Oh God, gonna die, gonna die...

If you're looking for the song from the Sonic Generations trailer, it's Tenderoni by Kele Okereke from his solo album “The Boxer”. Kele is known primarily as the lead singer of Bloc Party.



So let's talk about the music of Uncharted 3, featuring the series' returning composer Greg Edmonson. Uncharted, as a series, has a rare thing going for it – awesome graphics, a stellar story, great voice acting and to complete that package, some epic music. When a game offers visual treats that are so spectacular, you're going to notice if the audio doesn't hold up its end. Most of my experience with Uncharted 3 this week has been as an observer but that didn't stop me from noticing that the music retains its Saturday matinee movie-magic charm and the ability to mesh well with the constantly changing nature of the game. Edmonson was the composer behind Firefly's television run, as well as the Fox cartoon King of the Hill, so he's demonstrated his skills when it comes to scoring a variety of styles. Providing compelling score for a video game is a different challenge, even for a game as cinematic as Uncharted 3, and yet not once in the eight hours I've experienced did I feel like the music was out of place, irritatingly repetitive, or awkwardly inserted. I have to say that the score Edmonson provides is a key ingredient to the Uncharted experience, one that often goes overlooked, but the next time you're playing Uncharted 3 take a moment to appreciate the way the score keeps pushing Nathan Drake along like an explosion in slow motion.



Maybe You Missed It

It takes something special for the excellent chiptunes of yesteryear to hold up among today's symphonic scores. If you didn't fall in love with certain sound effects back when they were the best available, it's hard to see the appeal. Some games, however, had music so catchy, effective, or downright interesting that it begs to be mentioned. In the case of the Super Nintendo RPG EarthBound, the music composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka isn't limited by the restrictions of the hardware – much like a Haiku, boundaries provide freedom, and beauty results. Suzuki played for many years in a Japanese rock band called The Moonriders, and scored the award-winning Anime Tokyo Godfathers. Tanaka is probably best known for writing the original Metroid theme, a seminal piece in gaming culture, known for being successfully ominous using eight-bit instrumentation. There's a skill there, an ability to sculpt and work with music, that comes out when you look at what some of these masters have done with a few square waves and a 16 bit cartridge.



EarthBound's soundtrack is so good that it has led to the release of multiple albums and a whole hell of a lot of remixes. It's a popular choice for live instrument performances and remains a top source for OC Remixes. Check out one of the better renditions.



All of this great game music and more can be found streaming on rainwave 24/7 through the magic of... I dunno, electricity and stuff. Check them out and I'll see you next week! ]]> Mr. Murphy http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1294 Steam Play List http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1293 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:49:27 GMT So I am trying to refrain from buying any new games on Steam until I clear some that I have been meaning to finish for a while now. Some I have... So I am trying to refrain from buying any new games on Steam until I clear some that I have been meaning to finish for a while now. Some I have extensive experience with, while some I have yet to play. Though school and finding a job is most definitely my top priority, here is my current play list:

Breath of Death VII
Cthulhu Saves the World
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
A.R.E.S.
Dark Messiah Might and Magic
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
VVVVVV
World of Goo
Torchlight ]]> DeathByVoid http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1293 Music Worth Mentioning - Oct 24th, 2011 to Oct 31st, 2011 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1292 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:28:15 GMT Monday means Mr. Murphy's mentioning music!

Battlefield 3 hit store shelves this week, with original music by two fellows from the Swedish label Mitek.

These guys have a bit of a discography, but they haven't seen a lot of "big name" attention before now. Jukka Rintamaki and Johan Skugge have put together an electronic/industrial soundtrack that is full of fuzzy thick freakness and buzzy techno ambience. It's not going to make you an electronica fan if you aren't already, but if you enjoy loud, dirty sounds and synthesizer tones, this stuff will scratch an itch. Much of the music has an atmosphere of tension, but none of the songs really go anywhere, so while I didn't dislike any of the tracks I came away from the whole thing thinking it was fairly forgettable. Still, I've certainly heard worse electronic music – at least these guys have great production value and aren't ashamed to use every cheesy synthesizer sound that they own. Compare it to instrumental albums by more established industrial or electronica artists and it will fall short, but it's better than 95% of the amateur techno you can find on the internet.

Listen to the soundtrack on Spotify.


Back to the Future, featuring the complete five episodes of the game, is available on disc and the audio work on this game stands out as a highlight. You've probably heard that the voice actors are amazing (they are), but so is the all-new music by veteran Sam and Max composer Jared Emerson-Johnson.

This guy is good. Real good. The original Back to the Future theme by Alan Silvestri is probably stuck in your head right now, just because you read the words Back to the Future.

If it isn't, I can wait while you... yeah, there it is.

Emerson-Johnson obviously uses this musical callback when it is needed, but instead of just retreading the Silvestri's chord progression over and over, he chose to create quite a bit of new score to go with it. The music captures the emotional impact of the movies while being something entirely original, often using familiar instruments and 'stings' in newly constructed pieces. The game itself has been hit-or-miss with the critics, but the music is definitely a ten all throughout, for accomplishing the incredible feat of being new and old at the same time and supporting the nostalgic nature of the game without boring you with familiarity. No easy task. Unfortunately the OST is not available in any licensed capacity yet, but when the official soundtrack goes on sale I'll make note of it in another edition and here in the archives – if you've ever listened to the original movie scores for pleasure, this will be a nice addition to your playlist.

Rhythm Releases

Dance Central 2 comes with forty-four songs on the disc, and the ability to import Dance Central tracks from the original over to the sequel. You got your Gaga, your Bruno Mars, your Missy Elliot, and only one or two of those terrible covers we're forced to endure in rhythm games sometimes. This is bumping club music, so if that's your genre, there's plenty here to enjoy.


Just Dance Kids 2 is sitting on Wii shelves with a forty song playlist of pop covers and grade school favorites. The tracks on this playlist are going to be popular with the below-ten crowd, maybe even a little younger than that, but if you like watching your little'un dance around the living room to a mix of tunes that include both childrens' songs and top 40 radio interpretations, you really can't go wrong with a title like this – especially since it comes 10$ cheaper than its adult sibling at around $40.

Country Dance 2 features a fifteen track setlist made up of entirely what my new-country loving parents called 'shit-kickers'. If you're a fan of the modern country stations, you'll recognize a couple of significant hits, including Billy Currington's "People Are Crazy", one of Gwyneth Paltrow's debut tracks "Shake that Thing" and the surprisingly intense Miranda Lambert song "Gun Powder and Lead". Every track on here is a two-step town-hall get-down, so if you're into the style this pile of plastic is advertising, don't think twice. This is, to quote my mother, "a boot-scoot boogy waiting to happen."

I'm serious, she really said that.



Maybe You Missed It


It's Halloween, and that means Silent Hill. Akira Yamaoka's work on the first Silent Hill game for the PlayStation was some of the loudest, scariest music I had ever heard in a video game – and he's kept it up throughout the series run to date. Chances are you've heard this stuff before, but I wanted to mention it today for a few reasons: first off, if you're a writer who writes to music (I know we have a few on the site, and NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow), this guy can be an amazing source of tension and inspiration. Put on some Yamaoka while you're trying to construct a scary or intense scene and I guarantee your brain will go to a darker place. Throwing a Halloween party? Throw on some Silent Hill soundtrack between the party songs and give your guests a little thrill. I've walked through homemade haunted houses that have utilized these tracks incredibly effectively. If you like dark ambience and instrumental industrial, there are some really excellent pieces on these CDs, with the awesome funk of the Blue Man Group trapped in a junkyard crusher.


You can find the complete soundtracks and quite a few fan remixes over at silenthillmemories.net.

Check out a classic below.



Click on over to rainwave for more video game music and remixes, including quite a bit of remixed Silent Hill music, and I'll see you all next week. Happy Halloween! ]]> Mr. Murphy http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1292 urgh http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1291 Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:38:34 GMT Whoever taught my wife to say "You do whatever you want" needs to be injured. Severely.

What I want to do is stay home and play videogames - if i can with this worker's comp brace. However, if I do that she will be unhappy with me for staying home instead of helping her in her classroom. She doesn't want to be there - why would I???? ]]> anakin876 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1291 Music Worth Mentioning - Oct 17th, 2011 to Oct. 23rd, 2011 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1290 Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:33:08 GMT *Music Worth Mentioning – Oct. 17Th, 2011 to Oct. 23rd, 2011* Peel apart the pixels and underneath the edges you might find video game music... Music Worth Mentioning – Oct. 17Th, 2011 to Oct. 23rd, 2011


Peel apart the pixels and underneath the edges you might find video game music worth mentioning! The vast majority of us spent this week playing Batman: Arkham City, featuring original music by Nick Arundel and Ron Fish. This is the return of the dynamic duo responsible for the excellent and tastefully underused music of Batman: Arkham Asylum. We can blame Arundel for the lion's share of this new stuff, as Fish is only listed as contributing to three of the nineteen score pieces, however, those three, "A Monument To Your Failure", "It's Not Even Breakfast" and "Bring Her Back To Me" all feature some pretty cool combinations of instruments and sounds – I swear I heard coyotes howling in the background of "Bring Her Back To Me" as the music rose to a frantic crescendo, before the silence came sweeping in like a playboy in a batsuit.

The bat has been portrayed in a variety of ways over the years, and when providing a score for such an iconic character all of these interpretations need to be considered or else you're going to leave certain fans out in the cold. This soundtrack is Batman music at it's best, and it features flavors from all of the classic Batman scores of the past. You'll notice undertones of Danny Elfman's 1989 Batman and Batman Returns themes, as well as some of the sonic stylings of the mid-nineties animated series, held together with some really nice ambience and sweeping strings that reminded me a bit of Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's work on The Dark Knight. It all comes together to form something entirely new but completely appropriate, and worthy of the legacy and history of Batman.

This score would be a perfect addition to your "writing music" arsenal if you want to put yourself in a film noir, bleak city, epic adventure kind of mood. You can find it here.

There is an official sister album, Batman: Arkham City – The Album, boasting twelve new tracks of radio music from modern artists. Common consesus is that it's pretty good if you like darker alternative rock. Most listeners come away with a few standout tracks that appeal to their personal taste - I recommend you take a look at the list of contributors (found here) and if you spot any names that you like, it's worth your time to check out the CD (two bands, Blaqk Audio and (crosses), are newer projects that feature the vocalists from AFI and Deftones, respectedly - I was pleasantly surprised when Chino Moreno started moaning at me partway through the album). If you want the excellent twelfth track by "A Place To Bury Strangers", you'll need the Collector's Edition. Lykke Li’s “Get Some,” that song from the Catwoman trailer that got stuck in your head for three days, is conspicuously absent.



Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One is available with music by Michael Bross, who you might have heard in Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, or the Dennis Hopper flick "Black Dahlia" from 1998. More recently he's been involved with Firefall and Novalogic, and as always, his composing is superb and perfectly fitting to the colorful, bombastic world of R+C, although I don't find this music to be something I would listen to when not playing the game. It's exciting, cartoony, and reminds me quite a bit of the Super Mario Galaxy soundtracks, and there's over four hours of original material here to keep you in the mood for colorful mayhem.



Nuclear Dawn is out, featuring music by Alex Pfeffer, the man responsible for a fair number of game and movie scores including Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes flick, Mortal Kombat VS. DC Universe, Crysis 2 and Saw VI. I find this guy bland as all hell. In the particular case of his Nuclear Dawn theme, called an "epic" piece, I don't think he did a single thing that hasn't been done in a million action movie soundtracks before, and the overall experience fell flat. He does have some fans, though, so your milage may vary. If you're into stuff like the Ace Combat: Assault Horizon soundtrack from last week, check out Pfeffer's website and see what else he's done, maybe you'll see something that you've enjoyed in the past. Personally though, when I see Pfeffer attached to a game or a movie, I stop expecting anything original or fun from the music.



Grease Dance, based on the classic musical, and Everybody Dance hit shelves this week for the shimmy-shaker in your house. Everybody Dance comes with 40 tracks on the disc, with a respectable (if unimaginative) collection of dancable numbers. I noticed newer artists like Deadmau5 and LMFAO right beside old standards such as Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" and Fatboy Slim's "Praise You". New content will be available as DLC, but I could find no reference as to when or how much. I wouldn't expect the "three songs a week" approach we got with some of the higher profile rhythm games.



Maybe You Missed It

If you like electronic music of any kind, you want to experience TomᚠDvořαk's wonderful score to the incredibly beautiful indie darling Machinarium. This instrumental electronica is done with such amazingly warm tone, it easily transcends your typical video game music and becomes something entirely worthwhile in it's own right. This soundtrack has played in my house on almost endless repeat for the last two years. It's amazing background music, and if you have a system with a warm subwoofer, the bass notes will make you feel like a tuning fork Dvorak has struck with perfect resonance. This gentleman spent a lot of time carefully constructing the soundwaves for each individual sound in his pieces, and the effort shows in the final experience. Check one out below:



If you buy the game from the official website and not through a service (like Steam), the soundtrack is included – although there are actually over a dozen more tracks in the playable game that were not included. These tracks were left off the official soundtrack for being too ambient in style. The thing is, I love those ambient bits as well, and sleep to them often! You can find the complete extended soundtrack in the bowels of the internet easily enough, or by pulling the sound files from your install folder.

As always, make sure to hit up the incredible video game music and remix streaming radio site rainwave in your search for new and excellent tunes. See you next week! ]]> Mr. Murphy http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1290 Music Worth Mentioning - 10-10-11 to 10-16-11 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1289 Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:15:14 GMT *Music Worth Mentioning * Every week, buried in the weekly release, behind the graphics and between the screens is video game music worth... Music Worth Mentioning

Every week, buried in the weekly release, behind the graphics and between the screens is video game music worth mentioning. Last week we saw the release of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, with music by the Namco Sound Team formed in 1996-1997. This is the same group responsible for the music of Ridge Racer back in the day and the Ace Combat series to date. If you purchase the game at Best Buy, they advertise an exclusive (in America) bonus Soundtrack CD with game purchase with 75 minutes (18 tracks) of in-game music – although the version of the soundtrack I managed to get my grubby little hands on only had 14 tracks, totaling 68 minutes. The Best Buy page could have a typo, or my unofficial copy could be incomplete.

This soundtrack is not yet available for retail sale, but the free CD has been ripped to the internet by industrious fans.

How does it sound? Appropriately awesome, especially when you're playing the game! This is intense action ambiance at it's best, full of rising string sections, pounding drums and sweeping horns. Occasional change-ups in the genre style or instrumentation of the tracks kept me pleasantly surprised, and if you have a decent sub-woofer, you're going to feel the driving percussion raise your heartbeat. Elements of non-American cultural music are interspersed with the more typical Hollywood style background, which makes the entire experience feel slightly glabal. The OST works incredibly well in-game to set the tone. This isn't a soundtrack that is doing anything groundbreaking, but it still gets high marks from me for being so appropriate to the mood of the game.

If you enjoy listening to Hollywood action film scores, this game soundtrack is worth a look.


Dance Dance Revolution II was released for consoles, sharing music with the arcade release Dance Dance Revolution X3. I counted 19 new licensed tracks from "popular" artists (I spotted two Justin Beiber's, a Rihanna, some B.o.B. and even a classic Spice Girls track), and 64 DDR originals (many of which are classics from previous games). I didn't sit down and listen to the entire soundtrack – I just couldn't find a night this week when I was in the mood for dance music other than Girl Talk! So I can't comment on the specific quality of these particular dance tracks, but if you're into bumpin' club techno and popular radio music, DDR should be on your radar.

If any fans of the series can tell us about this entry, and how it holds up against past DDR games in the series, we'd love to hear about it!


Red Dead Redemption: GOTY Edition saw the light of day last week. All the background music in this game was recorded by Bill Elm and Woody Jackson at the same rhythm and in the same key, 130 beats per minute in A minor, to provide a consistent atmosphere. In an excellent example of modern technology altering the way we make and experience music, the in-game soundtrack is procedurally combined to make a dynamic musical experience as you play. Each track of the background music is recorded in multiple layers called "stems" (known during mixing as tracks), and since each stem is in the same key and playing at the same 130 BPM, stems from different songs are combined during gameplay to provide a dynamic and responsive musical experience. Cool stuff! But how does it sound?

I love this soundtrack. While I'm playing the game, the combination of old-fashion Out West aesthetic with a little bit of modern funk is keeps the experience of being a cowboy feeling new and fun. Quite a few tracks made their way onto my permanent playlists once the game was over (Triggernometry was a standout for me) for their almost Noir-ish or Lounge style. I'm a real sucker for anything with a little bit of sexy, smoke-filled bar kinda swing to it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that here, combined with many classic instruments and chord progressions from the days of the Spaghetti Western. This soundtrack was the standout of the week. Even if you don't like western flair, it might be worth checking out, since many of the tracks transcend their genre.

The 19-track OST is available for retail sale at less than ten dollars, with individual tracks available for purchase at Amazon. Also includes four songs with vocals that capture the feel of the old west with a modern sound - Compass by Jamie Lidell, Far Away by Jose Gonzales, Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie by William Elliot Whitmore, and Deadman's Gun performed by Ashtar Command.


Might and Magic Heroes VI Digital Deluxe Download and European Collector's Edition of the game come with the 70 minute soundtrack for the game as lossy MP3 files. As of this writing, the soundtrack is not available for separate retail purchase, but the soundtrack files can be found on fan sites for the game (among other places).

Much of this music falls into the "gentle fantasy ambiance" category, often with tinkling piano and airy string sections. This is another soundtrack that strives for an "epic" feel using orchestra instrumentation, and like Ace Combat mentioned earlier, it doesn't do anything very original – but it does do everything very well! You'll recognize (and enjoy) classic fantasy music tropes (like the ghostly choir and the lonely flute) if you've been a fan of Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings score or things of that style. This soundtrack fits very well with the game atmosphere, providing a slightly different emotional feel to each terrain type and gameplay section, while still maintaining an overall cohesive style. It is entirely listenable as pleasant background music while you read a book or clean the house.


I was interested in the music of Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny, but I couldn't get my hands on the game or the soundtrack. If anyone out there has played it and would like to mention how it sounds, the floor is yours.

Maybe You Missed It...

You know what else is worth mentioning? Terry S. Taylor! 1996 saw the release of a PC game called The Neverhood, followed by two "sequels", Skullmonkeys and Boombots. The frontman of legendary ecclectic band Daniel Amos was tapped to create the soundtrack, and Terry S. Taylor gave them some of the most fun, funny and interesting game music you can find. Performed entirely by Taylor using out-of-tune guitars, home-made kazoos, broken banjos and
any variety of garbled mouth-noises, the soundtrack to The Neverhood is a seminal piece of both game music and interesting acoustic performance. The list of artists who credit Terry S. Taylor as an influence includes Jonathan Coulton, among many talented others.

The two-disc soundtrack Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood, released in 2004, contains 77 tracks spanning all theree games and is readily available on Amazon, albeit for a hefty price. The fans of this game's music have made the tracks available on the internet as well.

Experience one of the main themes from The Neverhood, Klaymen's Theme:


See you all next week! ]]> Mr. Murphy http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1289 TF2 Crafting http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1288 Sat, 20 Aug 2011 14:59:40 GMT Yesterday, while waiting for someone to attack my sentry, I got on my wife's computer to look at my crafting options. This morning she gets on her computer and says "Um, what's wring with my computer?" She saw the crafting page on another web browser and was worried something terrible was happening... :D ]]> anakin876 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1288 Super Creeper Bros. http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1287 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:48:50 GMT Few weeks back I went to the State Fair and amid the usual menagerie of wonderfully cheesy airbrushed haunted/play house imagery was one that stood... Few weeks back I went to the State Fair and amid the usual menagerie of wonderfully cheesy airbrushed haunted/play house imagery was one that stood out in my heart and mind.

The most busted ass Mario and Luigi you can imagine:



Mario acts out my initial reaction to seeing this:



And one that has real potential; Creeper Mario:

]]> Rock Bandit http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1287 Oh hey http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1286 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 05:00:05 GMT Post #2000, in the Game of Thrones book/TV show thread. Awesomesauce. Post #2000, in the Game of Thrones book/TV show thread. Awesomesauce. ]]> Rogue_hunter http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1286 Thanks for watching! Stay Golden! :) http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1285 Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:26:37 GMT Finally, I beat Catherine. My ending was great, it's what I was choosing throughout the game. The story that was told was absolutely beautiful, Team Persona always makes great storylines that really appeal to me. It was worth all the toil and effort, and trust me, it wasn't easy at all, even on normal. I'm very much looking forward to replaying this game many times, on easier and tougher difficulties. I have only unlocked 1 of the rumored 7 or 8 endings. I have much to do. To those of you still playing through for the first time, good luck! :) ]]> shodan2020 http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1285 Wargaming with Myself - Embarkation http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1284 Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:56:30 GMT Recently I've been looking for a more fulfilling hobby to keep myself entertained. I love boardgames, video games and card games, but due to where I live playing anything locally with someone else is a no go (for the most part). Video games are about the only answer for this by offering online play, but even that is spotty and can get expensive out in a rural area like this, not to mention there's a cognitive dissonance when playing with a disembodied voice, familiarity or no. I also enjoy the feel and look of physical game boards and figures, which has lead to me searching for board games or card games (with artwork that I enjoy) which can be played solo. This has been succesful in supplying me with a good handful of excellent games, but there's still something missing for me--besides someone to play with.

I realized this was tapping into my quiet obsession with wargame miniatures. I've always been facinated with them, but considered it too costly to build an army that I would then never get a chance to play. That hasn't stopped me from glancing at all the figures enviously as I walked through the hobby shop, or looking through the armies on online databases, or even getting involved in the fiction of some of those universes. After finally comprehending how much time and effort goes into making a miniature look incredible and lifelike, I came to understand that much of the hobby was the collection and creation of those figures, playtime be damned. As such, I've decided to take on a new hobby by learning how to put together and paint some really cool looking minis, and chronicle my experience here.

I should note that this will most likely be a long running deal, probably much longer than it needs to be. Unfortunately, due to some miscommunications, we're substantially short on money for the time being*, so pouring a hundred dollars or so into a new hobby can't happen all at once. That's fine, since there's plenty to do before I open that first box, including deciding what I want to paint.

Initially I was moving between two properties, Warhammer 40K and Warmachine, but have comfortably settled on Warmachine for the time being. Nothing is set in stone, and since a Games Workshop finally opened up a shop in town just yesterday, that makes me reconsider a bit. I'll be giving the game store I normally go to a good going over to see if the supplies I'd like are easily accessible, and if not I'll likely be doing some Grey Knight suff. Most of the point right now is to find something that's flashy and shows off well, and the Grey Knights have a ton of details that I find pleasent and present that opportunity. A bonus with Warmachine, however, is it's much easier and cheaper to field a starting army, so should the opportunity ever arise to actually play, I'll have less to spend to flesh everything out than I would by going with Warhammer. Plus, the main draw with Warmachine is the Warjacks--large steampowered mechs--which in addition to looking pretty damn cool are big and would make good individual pieces. And I love steampunk.

So that's it for now. I'll be chewing on this and make another post once I'm closer to a decision, then the next thing to do will be recon at the game shop at the beginning of the week. I'll fill in those details later.

* About a month from now we should have much more money, but I'll be completely consumed for some time, relegating my hobby time to weekends. ]]> Iron Past http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/blog.php?b=1284