Music in Video Games Appreciation Week: Day 2

I was debating whether to save my favorite composer till the end of the week, but I just couldn’t help myself.

Over the course of this blog, I have gushed several times about how I am conceived that Jeremy Soule is one of the best composers in not just the business today, but in history.

A bold statement, but when you look at the sheer volume and quality of music he has produced by the age of 38, you’ll be hard pressed to argue.

To me, Jeremy Soule is the embodiment of the idea that “a video game is not complete without a strong soundtrack to back it up.”  His works are powerful, moving, and enjoyable.

My first encounter with Mr. Soule’s music was during the days of Morrrowind.  His haunting music traveled with me as I roamed the wilderness of Morrowind.  No matter where I was, or what I was doing, I felt as though I was on a truly epic adventure, even if my current quest was simply to buy a book from man to give it to another.  The music was perfect and every time I listen to those songs, I am teleported back into Morrowind and filled with the sense of wonder I felt all those years ago.

I’m gushing again, sorry.

Below are three of my favorites from Jeremy Soule’s older works.  I didn’t include anything about Skyrim in this post because I have already posted enough about the awesome soundtrack that game has.

I hope you enjoy today’s music.

The first is the main theme from Morrowind.

The second is the main theme from Icewind Dale.

The third and finale piece today is from Guild Wars Prophecies.

Music in Video Games Appreciation Week: Day 1

I love the music in video games.

No matter how good the story is, no matter how excellent the gameplay is, no matter how good the voice acting is, a game is just not complete without a strong soundtrack.  Think of all the great games you have played.  Skyrim, Shadow of the Colossus, Mario, Final Fantasy, Silent Hill.  You may not have noticed it at the time, but the music was there, churning in the background as it carefully set the tone. Music is the key to a dramatic moment and without it, the game would feel just a little bit off.  Try playing with the music turned off sometime in a game.  You’ll notice instantly the entire game will feel a little different.

Interestingly, studies show that music is the number one cause for memories of nostalgia.

This week at Wine Cheese and Video Games, we will be posting a different score from a different game each day for you to enjoy.  We are going to you just how powerful, and extremely good, video game music is;  And how it really is a shame that great composers like Jeremy Soule and Harry Gregson-Williams often times don’t receive the recognition they deserve for their hard work.

Today’s song is the title track from Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3.  Hope you enjoy this week.

Amazon claims Guild Wars 2 will launch June 30th,

 

Once Again, a retail company is announcing a game’s release date before the company has announced it.

This is getting rather bizzare.

But back on topic.

Guild Wars 2 may launch June 30, according to a date available on Amazon.de.  The Dutch branch of Amazon has already started taking pre-orders for ArenaNet’s upcoming MMO.

While many, myself  included, want June 30th to be the release date, we have to remember that “an official launch date within 2012 as feedback from our closed and open marketing betas will help us determine an exact release date. We will release Guild Wars 2 when it is ready.”

 

Elbow – Grounds For Divource

Found this song last night and haven’t been able to stop listening to it.  I love it.

 

Guild Wars 2 Coming Open Beta

For those of you eagerly excited to play Guild Wars 2, and I won’t lie here, I am one, good news is upon us.  Arenanet, the company behind the ambitious title, has announced that open beta tests will be coming in March.

Writing on the official Guild Wars 2 blog, ArenaNet president Mike O’Brien explained that the team is ready to next the in the testing process.

“We recently finished our first closed beta test, and we’re now ready to hold progressively larger events.”

If you are interested in getting into the open beta, you should expect the invitation process to begin next month.

“In February we’ll invite select press to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we’ll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate.”

He added that the MMO is confirmed to launch later this year.

 

Guild Wars 2 has been in development since 2007. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the game’s storyline will focus on the the Elder Dragons, who have taken control of the world . Unlike its predecessor, Guild Wars 2 features a persistent game world and 5 playable races: the bestial Charr, the shape-shifting Norns, the diminutive  Asura, and the plant-like Sylvari, and, of course, humans. It will also feature a of 80 and a dynamic storytelling system that ArenaNet says will allow for different experiences each time you play through it.

Guild Wars 2′s biggest selling point, however, is its lack of a subscription fee. Unlike other AAA MMORPG games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic and World of Warcraft, you won’t have to pay $15 a month. The original Guild Wars also featured no subscription fees and instead earned revenue through multiple expansion packs. This set it apart from its competition and made it a critical and commercial success at a time.

Guild Wars 2 Info

Heard a lot about Guild Wars 2?  Wondering what the buzz is even about?  Never heard of Guild wars 2?  Well you’re in luck.  I found this video that sums up what Guild Wars 2 basically is.  For those curious, interested, or fanatic about the game, hope this helps you.

 

400 Pound Monkey IPA review

400 Pound Monkey an India Pale Ale is made by Lefthand Brewing company.  Overall, I really liked the beer.  It’s now one of my favorite American made IPA’s.  On a scale from 1 to 5, with five as the best, I would rate it a 3.8, and definitely encourage you to try it.

Apperaence: When you see the drink, its an orange color with a white foam head.

Smell: You will smell orange marmalade,  lemon, and malts.

Taste:  The first thing you taste is a mild nutty/caramel undertone.  After a moment the usual IPA taste of grain and sweet hops mix with the hints or orange and nuts.

Aftertaste:  The after taste his heavy and a little bitter.

Monster Hunter vs Hunter Blade: Free Market or to far?

If you have never played the Monster Hunter series, you really are missing out on one of the most unique and popular franchises currently on the video game market.

For those unfamiliar with the Monster Hunter series, the title really does sum up the game play: you are a hunter who wields a large weapon that you use to slay great dragons and reptiles after you hunt them.

The concept is pretty simple.  But there is a lot of depth hidden behind this visage of simplicity.  As you play, you’ll find yourself crafting new weapons and armor from the remains of the creature you stalk.  You’ll build useful items and traps, and discover all manner new tricks that will help you fight and slay the beasts you hunt.

It’s very addicting and fun.

This recipe of addicting and fun gameplay has made it the best selling franchise numerous times in Japan.  New entries of the series often sell millions of copies in a single week.

Which meant it was only  a matter of time before someone tried to copy it.

Enter Hunter Blade, something I can only call a blatant rip off.  Hunter Blade is not just an imitation, it IS Monster Hunter.  Sure it’s made by a Chinese company and has some slight differences, but overall its the same.  Adding to this, Hunter Blade changes just enough stuff to avoid being sued into oblivion by Capcom.  Honestly, I don’t know how.  Even when watching game play of each side by side, it’s hard to see a difference.

Certainly, Capcom cannot stop companies from making games that have monster hunting in them.  After all, the series is successful and imitation is the best form of flattery. But is this okay? Really?

Monster Hunter Gameplay

Hunter Blade

Diablo 3: Even More Changes Still to Come Devs Say

People who played the Diablo 3 beta have been commenting that the game seems extremly polish ed and seems ready to release as is.  However,game director Jay Wilson has announced that Diablo 3 still has some big changes ahead of it.

What does that mean for the release date? I don’t think anyone outside Blizzard can tell you that, and maybe even Blizzard isn’t sure.

What Blizzard is sure of is the changes it wants to bring to the game and that they are always trying to make it better.

Wilson wrote on the Diablo 3 blog: “In addition to finishing and polishing the content of the game we’re continuing to iterate on some of the core game systems.”

“We’re changing some of the systems we’ve gotten the most feedback on both internally and from the beta test, including crafting, items, core attributes, and inventory.”

“In addition we’re working on major changes to the skill and rune systems that we’re not ready to talk about, but I promise you we can’t possibly ship without a finished skill and rune system.”

Another, huge change is that Blizzard is going to be changing character attributes.

“We’re dropping Defense, Attack, and Precision as attributes, Armor is taking over for what Defense used to provide, +Physical Resist will take over for Armor, and +Chance to Crit will fill in for Precision. Obviously these stat changes are one of the bigger systems changes we’re currently working on as they have far reaching requirements to re-itemize and balance the game.”
“This change makes the stats more intuitive and fixes some of the itemization issues we were running into. We want to make it clear that junk items aren’t worth picking up, and make it easy to identify other items as not for your character. We want to drop a ton of items, but to really pull off a sense of excitement when finding a great item, there needs to be non-optimal items, both for your class, and in general. By specifically targeting stats at classes, we can reduce the amount of item overlap, diversify our item pool, and create a cleaner, more exciting itemization system.”
“By and large these changes have little impact on which items you’re going to want. The item hunt has always been based on secondary stats and affixes, and we’re working hard to ensure build diversity is as large as possible by getting as many affixes into the game as possible (adding more item affixes is also something we’ve been working on). Simply including affixes that augment specific skills greatly expands the itemization pool and build possibilities.”

Wilson ended his blog with:

“We want Diablo III to be the best game it can be when it launches. To get there, we’re going to be iterating on designs we’ve had in place for a long time, making changes to systems you’ve spent a lot of time theorycrafting, and removing features you may have come to associate with the core of the experience. Our hope is that by embracing our iterative design process in which we question ourselves and our decisions, Diablo III won’t just live up to our expectations, but will continue to do so a decade after it’s released.”

S.O.P.A – The Censorship Bill

Today, many, many organizations and web sites are protesting the Stop Online Piracy Act or S.O.P.A.

From Google’s black bars to Wikipedia going down for an entire day, people are trying to get the word out that this bill is not something they want passed.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, the S.O.P.A Act, if passed, would authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites  accused of infringing on copyrights, or of enabling copyright infringement whether the site is based in the United State or not.

Sounds like a noble idea, right?

Wrong.

This bill doesn’t just stop things like illegal web torrent web sites, this bill stops ANYTHING that that an entertainment company views as piracy.  The bill’s wording is so vague that that it would allow a company to shut down an ENTIRE website simply for having an uploaded video they don’t like.  For example, if a  gamer records himself playing a game and puts it on youtube, the game company that published the game could instantly shut down all of youtube  simply because of this one video if they wanted to say it was copyright infringement.  They want to make streaming a felony!

For those looking for more information, the entire bill is here.  Even if you don’t read the bill, I  urge you to call your representative in congress and tell them to vote this bill down.  Otherwise the internet as we know and love it might be gone forever.