Kizyr

This I definitely like. Though I think there's more room for flexibility--it sticks fairly close to the source tune. I could see this turned into a bluegrass theme, too (which isn't a bad thing--I wouldn't mind seeing some bluegrass remixes either). Oh these two are great. Very reminiscent of New Mexican Thunderbird (one of my favorite tracks on BotA, by the way). They sound more Western than Country, but I'm not the kind who really cares about genre distinctions. KF

Maybe it's just my imagination, but I remember it sounding slightly different. Dom looks like he's a natural at flipping out, by the way. Oh crap it's a ghost! KF

It's a simple theme (though my favorite from Doom 2), but the way it's arranged, and the way the voice samples are worked, in gives it a great, haunting, ethereal quality that really adds to the depth of the original. Now normally, I don't really like samples of spoken lines--but normally, it's not done nearly this well. This could perhaps be the archetype of how spoken-word samples should be done. KF

Harvest Moon hadn't even crossed my mind. Now that you mention it, that'd be another great source (particularly the one track you linked). I'll try not to overlook it if you put up a WIP version. KF

Definitely in agreement. I'd love to see at least a few classic country-style remixes here. Lyrics would be a plus. Some of the tracks from Wild Arms 1-3 would lend themselves to country/western. I could see any of the following remade that way: WA - Into the Wilderness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHcrjkrOWLM WA2 - The Barren Lands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P4B_1qD3oQ WA2 - The Town to the West WA3 - A Person's Warmth WA3 - Advanced Desert (could also do Southern Rock for this one) WA3 - Bad Guys and Bad Land Sorry, can't find links for sources for a few of them. KF

You remember in every old cartoon series, there was always the one episode where the hero(es) was impersonated by someone else, who went around doing misdeeds so that the hero(es) got the blame? Yeah, sort of like that. TMNT had it. Spiderman had it. Superman had it. Hey, maybe this means Malcos is a superhero? KF

To be on the safe side, I would ask. Stimulus checks aren't normally appended onto your tax refund (since, like myself, not everyone receives a refund). Last year, they were sent out as separate checks altogether; I received mine sometime in September, I think, well after I'd filed. Same goes for the people I know who did get a refund. There should be a "for any questions, please contact ---" line somewhere on your return, or maybe your 1040. KF

Just a layman's opinion here. But I'd say yes, it is worth submitting. There are some things you may want to improve first, though. For starters, I like the arrangement. There's enough variety, it doesn't get old or repetitive, and you're putting together the main elements (synth, drums, guitar) such that they mesh together pretty well. So, I don't think there are any problems that'd prompt a rewrite. As for what you may wish to improve... The synth is my main issue. It's not that it's bad, but that it stands at too stark a contrast to the guitar and sounds out-of-place in your arrangement; perhaps you could replace it altogether with another instrument (piano--electric or not, some other stringed instrument, etc.). Given how good I think you made the guitar sound, I think if you put the same kind of focus on the synth part (or whatever you replace it with) it'd take the song to the next level. Additionally, I'm not as fond of the drums in the first 30-45 seconds of the song, though I'm not quite sure why (it might be that it sounds too rigid and perfectly-timed). I'll add that you should get a second opinion on what I said--particularly about the synth--since there's reasonable room for disagreement. Other folks on here should also have better and more concrete advice than what I can offer. Hope this helps. KF

Wow. I cannot stop listening to this song. I've had in on repeat throughout the day; I'll probably have it on repeat throughout tomorrow, too. (There are perhaps only 2 or 3 other songs on OCR that've had a similar effect on me.) This is my favorite theme from the DKC soundtrack, and I have a particular bias towards vocal remixes. So I expected to like it, but, I didn't expect it to be this utterly amazing. On the arrangement, I like how the main theme is still pretty strong throughout the melody, yet it softened up the heavy industrial sound of the original to fit with the mood and lyrics. Speaking of which, the lyrics were really well-written at that--with the metaphor of the factory giving the arrangement a sense of purpose. Oh, and Injury's singing... I already liked her voice in some of the older remixes (like Blue Reflection), but this is at another level entirely. The chorus is perhaps my favorite part of the song, and I keep humming those four lines to myself ("Reality is by this factory / Prescribing what is not in need ..."). The guiro was an interesting touch; not sure how I feel about it yet--it probably could have been removed without losing anything (oddly enough, I heard it clearly in WinAmp, but didn't notice it so much on my MP3 player--maybe I need new headphones? [EDIT: Figured it out--it was a balance issue on my settings]). I agree that the guitar coming in around 3:05 isn't really up to par with the rest of the piece--mostly because it sounds 'average' when everything around it is leagues ahead. After that (about 3:45) it feels like it's drawing to a close, but then picks up momentum--not really bad, just unexpected. Anyway, those are all really, really minor issues. Above all, it's an amazing remix. I'm glad to hear some new vocals by Injury, and I really hope we see more stuff by Nicole in the future. But, how are you gonna follow this one up? KF

Thought I'd give this another closer listen, after playing the arcade version of Marble Madness last weekend at Katsucon ('til my hands were red--slight aside, the NES version is much easier, though not as much fun sans the trackball). Anyway... Honestly, it's a bit repetitive, especially the 10-20 seconds before it gets into the main theme. The bassline is pretty good, though, and it's at least as catchy (if not more so) than the original theme. Overall, it's an okay piece. I should say, though, that Palpable has a really great and unique style that I enjoy. You can hear early elements of it in this remix, and everything hereafter by him has just been getting better and better. KF

I'd totally forgotten how much fun this game was. I don't think I've played it in at least a decade... Thank you for reminding me of it. KF

E) Sega Saturn All the other systems, I could easily find somewhere and re-purchase (that and I don't have any systems newer than the PS1, not counting my DS). The Saturn is a bit tougher to find. ...although I did just get a Japanese Saturn from Mad-Gear last weekend. But if it weren't for them, then yes, it would be extremely difficult to find. KF

Hm, I'll try to go chronologically and only hit the big ones, but there are so many at different points in life. 1) Playing Galaga for the first time. I was 3 years old and could barely reach the joystick of the arcade cabinet. It was the first time I ever played any video game. I think this is one of the reasons I like shooters so much. 2) Getting the top score on the Super Mario Bros. Pinball Game at another arcade. I think I was 10 at the time. (I went back to that same arcade when I was 18, and my initials were still #1. Eight-year standing record!) I still love pinball machines, but they've been all but phased out of arcades by now. 3) Playing Lunar: The Silver Star for the first time. It was my second RPG (Vay was the first), and I ended up playing it for 16 hours straight. Besides just playing the game, this is also what started my near-obsession with the Lunar series. 4) Setting up my Saturn. This was in 1995 when it just came out, and it took me days to figure a way to switch our TV to the A/V input channels without the remote. But once I did, I was very, very happy. 5) Beating a random person at an arcade in Tokyo in Puyo Puyo. KF

Yes! I loved brawlers/hack-n-slash games growing up; the TMNT and Final Fight arcade games were my favorites. Although these days, I'm not as much of a fan unless I'm playing it with someone else. I still have to suspend my disbelief when I hear of folks who have beaten the first game for the NES, though. I mean, I know it's possible, but for how insanely difficult it was, it's hard to imagine. KF

Echoing mattoco, it definitely fits the description of Alone in the Dark. The beginning had a log cabin, a monster would break in shortly after it began, it was polyagonal, and your character could only walk at a snail's pace while the monster wailed on you. ...I never did like that game. KF

This seems like a game I'd be all over (I love the concept, the idea of 80s in-jokes, etc.). But, I'm finding it hard to justify getting a DS game for it instead of just, say, breaking out some of my older games that I still have. (Particularly when I still have new DS games that I haven't yet played, and I'm still working on a backlog of SNES/Saturn/PSX games, mostly RPGs.) Is there anything that makes it worth that much more than just, say, playing the old games that it's based on? KF

Whenever I'm ordering songs, I prefer to have some connection between the end of one song and the beginning of another (theme, instrumentation, style, etc.), though that connection can be continuous. So, for instance, if one song ends with some strings, I'll try to find another one to follow it up that begins similarly. The benefit to that is, you tend to go back and forth instead of clustering all songs of one style together (since the connection isn't between the entire tracks, but just the first and last several seconds). Although, with any large album--like the one you described sounds--having an overarching 'story' to tell with the songs might be a good way to organize it at the top level (so, to decide what songs start/finish one 'side', and the order of the sides themselves), but the method I described there might be one way to organize it on a song-to-song level. Is this all from one game, or several different ones? KF

Wow, 14! You seem much older! So, yeah, happy birthday! I'd have said so earlier, but I sort of took a short hiatus from posting. KF

I remember the second one from Otakon. I actually like the first one more, mostly because of the criss-cross design on the back. My accomplishments in the sewing department end at being able to mend my socks and pants. I don't think I'd be able to do anything besides destroy an OCR shirt. KF

If you have health insurance, then you definitely have some options to dispute the charges. For starters, if you do have insurance, then you shouldn't be the one to actually see any bill whatsoever (the insurance company is supposed to be directly billed); that alone indicates that some mistake was made. Anyway, as Sengin said, your first step would be to call your insurance company and explain to them the situation. Try to be clear that you never received any medical service from the ER. Additionally, try to get the bill itemized if you can--this may require you to call the hospital itself. If you don't have insurance, then I think your options would be more limited. If that's the case, then you'll need to call the hospital directly, probably ask for an itemized bill, and then take it from there. Sorry about that, and good luck. KF

Great to see this posted already! I already listened to it at the JamSpace thing on Saturday night at MAG (that entire set was awesome, by the way), and have been listening to it many, many times since getting the VARIAtions tracks. I don't know what else I can say about it, though. I mean it's great, and it's one of those few songs I can listen to repeatedly without getting tired of it. KF

http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR00693/ Orkybash. You can use the Quick Search fields on the left navbar to search for anything. As for your project, well, the best place to start probably is posting like you've done already. Folks' profile info can also tell you at-a-glance who has what kind of skills and if people are interested in collabs. (But, of course, that far from guarantees interest in your project.) KF

Oh, definitely. I'm probably forgetting a few others (Rhymester is another group that comes to mind now). But, Shing02 and m-flo, particularly for their English-Japanese mix, might be pretty worthwhile looking into. Yeah I have a difficult time envisioning J-rap being any slower without sounding funny. So good luck with that (seriously--I think it'd be interesting if you could pull it off). KF

I hear someone here managed to get ahold of her shuriken. ...just sayin'. But anyway, I think the higher number of women at this year's MAGFest is just more evidence of how much it's reaching out to more and more people each year. KF

Tossing it out there: what about pinball machines? While it'd require rather different construction than an arcade cabinet (and not offer the same ease of switching games), I'd expect pinball machines to consume a lot less energy: only a few moving parts, one LED screen, and most of the action is powered by gravity and momentum. 'Course my ulterior motive is that pinball machines were always my favorite part of an arcade, and arcades rarely have them anymore. KF