SwordBreaker

That just happened to me for the first time today. I was playing Star Ocean: First Departure (never played the original) when an extremely familiar track was playing in the background of a village. It took me awhile to remember where I've heard this before; Hale-Bopp's "Summertime" ReMix. As soon as I did, I appreciated the original and the remix even more. Anyone had the same encounter? BTW, First Departure rocks. Huge fan of Star Ocean 2 on the PS1 and I was glad that the prequel's remake is modeled after SO2. Star Ocean 3 sucked.

@ Prophet I'm not going to argue. You're the expert, man. Sounds logical to me.

Very, very nice. I really enjoyed that "lecture". And yes, I must be living under a rock 'cause I have not heard of the "Uncanny Valley" theory before, but once you started explaining it in the introduction, I understood where you were going with it games-wise. I've dabbled in this subject before without knowing there was an actual theory around it. Enjoyed your helium voice and humor as well. Keep it up.

Yeah, you're right. I'm just curious about which games use it or depend on it entirely.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif I'm curious as to how many game soundtracks employ this technique in most or all of the tracks. You guys can mention your favorite "examples" that don't necessarily cover all of the game's music. So, here are the games I know of that fully use motifs in most if not all of its music: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Yoshi's Island DS I love what all these games did with the music. Even though it's just one or two recurrent themes, the variety is just incredible. I think Crisis Core is my absolute favorite out of them 'cause it implements a lot of live instruments like violins and guitars. As for some small examples that don't cover the whole game, Diddy Kong Racing DS comes to mind. The "Race Results" track sounds different depending on the level's theme. Motoi Sakuraba also uses a lot of motifs in his tracks regardless of the game. A couple of stuff in Eternal Sonata, for example, really remind me of his work with Baten Kaitos.

Played the demo today. Extremely unique and original. It's like a first person Prince of Persia or something. There's a steep learning curve, though. It takes awhile to get comfortable with the quick pace and the controls.

I'm still on the fence whether to buy this game or just skip it all together. There are some that praise what it's trying to do, while others say it's just a glorified noise maker. The latter view is getting more convincing. Either way, the track list is just pathetic. That's the major weak point of this game in my opinion. Why not give us more Nintendo tracks or cooler stuff? There are a few nice picks here and there, but it's just not satisfying overall. It's kind of childish to play Twinkle Twinkle or Yankee Doodle, even for 5-year-olds.

I'm so on the fence on getting a 360 right now...but I'm one of those people who got RRoD...twice with each 360 console. I was able to replace the first but not the second one. I'm not sure if the current Falcon units are reliable as people say.

Like I explained in my previous post, this is not about "hypocritical intolerance" or anything like that. Fact of the matter is that the verses in question were used in such a wrong way it's hard not to be offended. I myself am not offended, but I can see why people can and will be. I don't mind being inspired by Islam as long as it's used the right way. I know that the composer is Muslim, but he should've known better and integrated those quotes in a more respectful fashion. It may be "quite normal" for him to use Quran quotes, but the fact is that it's not if you're singing those quotes and using pop background music. Ocarina of Time did it right with the Fire Temple track. Dreamfall had Arabic and mosques and I was so happy for those kind of references. People are making such a big deal out of this nonetheless. No need to be upset. It's sad that gamers are still replying to this old news (in blogs, media sites, forums, etc) with such anger and offense, but I won't stoop to their level and become offended by such comments. Sony thought "better safe than sorry" and delayed the game for a mere week. Quranic references were so subtle and minor, but were caught by some Muslim fans who kindly requested Sony to remove it. That's it. End of story.

Right. Just to correct you on something here. With art it's a gray area...stemming from preferring geometric patterns instead of depicting objects...it's not that one will be condemned or damned to hell should he/she prefer drawing objects objects. That's an extremist exaggeration. It's just a matter of preference. As for your comments on music and the Holy Quran, you're exactly right. Allow me to elaborate on the details before more people start blowing fire. First off, as a Muslim, I was extremely against the Ocarina of Time edits years ago...particularly the Fire Temple background music...'cause while that track used Muslim sayings (no Quran quotes), it was not used in an offensive way at all. Same thing with Zack and Wiki's small edit. OoT's Fire Temple track had very basic drums and effects that are influenced by our religious music...which is the right way to go with this type of content. Now with LBP, I just listened to the tracks in question. In addition to the pop background music, the Quran quotes are being sung not read. "Tilawa" or "reading musically" is the only way in which the Quran can be read correctly and respectfully...singing the Quran in pop/jazz/African style is not a good idea at all. What's weird is that the composer of this track is a Muslim...so he/she should've known better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXZzdIa99Cc "Anasheed" is what we call our religious music, and the music should follow this basic type with percussion and instruments. Heavy beat background music like pop, rock, or techno is a big no no with religious music. Additionally, verses from the Quran cannot be used in the way those LBP tracks did. In fact, people usually avoid using the Quran with music all together in order to not get carried away ala LBP. Better safe than sorry. In any case, I'm glad Sony's taking action sooner than later. Respect. Hopefully everyone gets what's exactly going on with the explanation provided by cobaltstarfire and I. It's not "offensive" or "condemning" per-se, it's just frowned upon. I mean, I'm NOT upset by this...and I'm sure many Muslims feel the same way. It's just that stuff like that can be deemed offensive if abused. This is the way to respect the Holy Quran. And to whoever thinks that the Middle East doesn't have a big videogame fanbase, you're so wrong. Yes, we do have PS3s in the Middle East. We don't live in tents nor ride horses instead of cars. Sheesh. EDIT: just noticed Shariq and David's posts. Good thing that you guys chimed in.

Man...CT has been remixed like crazy. Let's see what the Bad Dudes will pull off with this one. You guys have been on a role. Keep it up.

VC releases, please. I don't have a working Genesis anymore.

Speaking of Donald...is it me or are Donald and Goofy more "mature" in KH2? I mean there were cutscenes where they were chiming in a conversation about something I can't recall...and it sounded so funny and out of place because their voices don't match with the stuff they were talking about...I kind of liked that. I also remember Donald using a word I didn't even have in my dictionary. It was this big word that you would never see him say in a Disney cartoon. lol. Trying to remember what it was. Either way, it made me feel a bit stupid.

The big question is...where was all this in E3? Seriously though, sweet megaton stuff. Loving all those new games. Sin and Punishment 2 was especially surprising...and why isn't anybody excited for Mario and Luigi 3?! This series kicks ass. Not too sure about those "Wiimakes". Pikmin and Jungle Beat were great games, but I'm not too fond of "ports with Wii controls". If these are true remakes with tons of added features, then I don't mind. In Jungle Beat's case, count me out if it's not compatible with the Bongos...air-drumming will kill the fun factor of this port/remake/whatever. About the DSi, I really don't see the big issue here. It's always been the same case with handhelds; release a revised version with new features not found in the original while sometimes sacrificing stuff like backward compatibility. Sony's been doing the same thing with the PSP as well. Good eye to the one who noticed Cave Story on WiiWare. Never played the original so I'm going to be downloading this one for sure! Pixel deserves to be paid for this masterpiece.

Extremely catchy. Reminds me of Beatdrop's "House Hornet" MMX3 remix. Vocals add a bit of flavor to the track. Nice job, both of you.

Nice. Enjoyed that interview. Capcom's titles for SF are getting extra long indeed, Dave.

This game is actually based on his upcoming movie of the same name. Game looks interesting. Movies looks...I dunno...you be the judge. I'm thinking of getting Postal on Blu-ray for the hell of it. I know nothing about it or the game series its based on...

LOL @ zircon for the PEARLS puzzle. I was stuck there too back in the day! My mom helped me with that one. That just brings back some good memories. Super Mario RPG was my first RPG ever so I have very fond memories of it. It's the first time that I got familiar with Square as a developer. You can say this game is the reason I'm a Square-Enix and RPG fanatic. Really changed my gaming tastes back then. I still own my copy yet I bought the VC one for the hell of it! Talk about nostalgia. And recently Square-Enix and Nintendo start developing together to make...Mario Hoops?! Seriously, that's bullshit. Give me Mario RPG 2 for crying out loud! Gotta agree with Nekofrog on how AWESOME Paper Mario 2 is. It's the best in the series because of how solid the gameplay is and how hilarious the dialogue can get. Hawk Rawk is awesome and Bowser's sequences were just made of WIN. The series lost a lot of its charm with Super Paper Mario, but that game is as hilarious as PM2. Let's not forget Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Loved that game because it reminded me of Mario RPG the most for some reason.

Thanks so much for this! I've been looking for the soundtrack for so long. This show is just made of WIN. It's a shame it got canceled...'cause I think it's the most creative show Cartoon Network has ever done. Gotta love those videogame references, eh? BTW, my favorite tracks are "Blood Shot" and the song that plays in the Regis Mk. 5 episode...that's just too epic for this show. lol.

Yeah. Pretty sure the writers of FF7 had some notes left over. Nonetheless, it's awesome how they got everything to fit in Crisis Core, since the backstory provided in the original game is so minor and you'll need to really look around to get more (like the flashbacks in the lab). I'm still half way through CC and I'm loving all those motifs and past references. Reminds me of Metal Gear Solid 4's storytelling as well, relying on those nostalgics to hook fans. About the combat, I'll have to agree that it's an extremely weird system. It's almost as if the Saga team high-jacked the development of the game. My initial impressions were so negative. The more I played, the better the combat got...even though I don't know what's going on half of the time with those reels.

Interesting story. Must be cool to look back at those days and wonder how all this started. To think a romantic song for OCR got you people together. Ironic, isn't it?

http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR01567/ Spooky.

Can't really remember how I stumbled upon OCR. It was around 2004 I believe. Don't even remember the first track I downloaded. That's just sad. I do remember impressing my friends with one particular track, convincing them how so talented most of you remixers are. Zircon's "Monstrous Turtles" wowed them. They were like, "this track can easily fit in an epic game such as MGS." Seriously.

Congrats to the winners. I was really aiming for one of the top three to be honest. So while I'm disappointed in that regard, I'm happy with the overall final result of my entry, the few votes I've gotten, and the few comments that echoed the aims of my entry (I'll get to those in a bit). I'd like to say to CN not to feel that bad about the lack of votes. As cheesy as this sounds, you experimented with a couple of things and the comments you get should open your eyes and ears on the faults. Search for the last VOCR compo...check out my track...I came out last place. I really took the comments from the last compo by heart and applied them here...and I think only DragonAvenger and Hale can judge the aftereffects since they were with me in the last compo. I would've liked more details in the comments about whether or not improvement is evident, but what was written to me was more than enough I guess. I'd like to reply to some of the comments I've gotten if you guys don't mind. Being compared to Shael is the biggest compliment one can get off this compo. So thanks, whoever you are. I wanted this track, especially the lyrics and "singing style", to sound hilarious but in the same time show that I've worked my ass off. To the one who was offended by using "shit", sorry, but I really wanted to keep that. I don't usually curse, but I did it anyway for the sake of the track's vibe. All these lyrics are based on my personal experience, by the way. And I was really feeling those words and the internal conflict of the song (between the verses and chorus) as I wrote them. Clean production, fitting melodies, and confidence. Three of my criticisms from the last VOCR...seemed to be somewhat fixed here according to the comments. Thanks. Now about the harmonies and the last line of the chorus, thanks for pointing those out. Yeah, those seem kind of unfinished and rushed. To be honest, I didn't really think about being innovative with the harmonies. I did enjoy doing the harmonies for "Great Scott...1.21 Gigawatts" and the final chorus. I think those were probably the best ones. But yeah...good points. Now about the Arabic verse "not fitting enough for singing"...I'm really surprised that one of you got that impression off it despite not being familiar with the language...because it's kind of true to an extent. I'll tell you why. In my last VOCR, I used "proper" Arabic to sing, and people seemed to enjoy it. With this VOCR, I'm using my original hometown accent with words that aren't really suited for singing...or at least Arabic singers don't usually use this accent for songs. So kudos to whoever got the "weird" impression off it. I wanted to try and make my accent fit with the singing, but maybe it didn't come off too perfect. Now for the final points of my post. First, I'd like to congratulate DragonAvenger for being the only one who has entered all three VOCR competitions so far! Secondly, thanks to Hale for organizing this compo and composing an awesome remix. Thirdly, I don't mind this thread to continue living on and more of you people posting/PMing your thoughts and criticisms of each track.

I second Super Mario RPG. That's the game that got me into RPGs in the first place so I'm very fond of it. I downloaded it on the VC a couple of days ago and it still plays great. BTW, that music video is hilarious. That should get posted on OCR or something.