ifirit

I really don't care if they were going to open for Yanni, VG (as in very good) musicians need as much support as they can get.

Just a quick bump and place holder to remind everyone that Konami will be attending the new version of E3 this year and that a Silent Hill 0rigins announcement may be present. (Release date, anyone?) Stay tuned for updates. Also, keep an eye out for the international release of Silent Hill Cage of Cradle, which is set to release between now and July.

PlayStation 2 Grand Turismo 4 Dragon Quest VIII Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Shadow of Destiny PlayStation Portable Lumines Valkerie Profile: Lenneth Tekken Dark Ressurection Multi-platform Silent Hill 2: Greatest Hits/Restless Dreams Silent Hill 3 Hitman: Blood Money Psychonauts Myst III

Pix, please! Better yet, video. Also having attended the concert in Chicago last year, I can only say that the performances were wonderful. Though I do admit that the Nobuo Uematsu pieces were performed verbatim to the arrangements from the Potion/Vocal/Piano/ect. collections (Zelda Medley as well, from the OoT Hyrule Symphony CD), all of the other arrangements were incredibly well excuted. The Chrono Trigger/Cross medley was marvilous with the addition of the bongo percussion. Kingdom Hearts 2's "Passion (Orchestral Version)" was nothing less than stellar. And, Angela Aki's performances of "Kiss Me Goodbye" (FFXII) and "Eyes on Me" (FFVIII) were so touching that not a single person wasn't moved in the audience. The most pleasant surprises of the night were the Shenmue opening theme, the Battlefield 1942 medley and, of course, Akira Yamaoka's performance of Silent Hill 2's "Theme of Laura." There were not surprising due to their appearance in the concert but because of their arrangement/performance. Keep in mind that PLAY! is an orchestral concert, so every aspect of the music comes from using the live orchestra and the capabilities that it has. Therefore, when it comes to saying that something was pleasantly surprising, I refer to the flexibility in the musical genre that it is performed as, such as including ethnic, electronic and rock/metal elements in these performances. The show does not lack in dynamics and the overall energy there is electric. Expect to see pieces change from grandiose to intimate and back again within a few movements. And, above all else, expect to see a really great show. I know I'll never forget it. Gecko Yamori?

Romantic remix, huh? Maybe the obvious answer is "Eros." Well, when it comes to thinking about romantic remixes, Freemind is usually the first to come to mind.

Just listened to the MySpace sampler and that just blows me away. Absolutely gonna pick this up tomorrow.

I would really love to come and could easily donate money for the tickets, but I have a problem with getting there. At the cheapest, it would cost $200 just for travel, which makes it impractical. If anyone is headed my way and wants to give me a ride, I'd be more than happy to contribute to the cost of gas.

I have to throw in my agreement on this idea since Pandora is really cool and I, too, have been listening to it since I openned the thread. Pandora-style OCR would be way too hard for the current staff/listener base/programming, but OCR mixes appearing on Pandora.com would be awesome. Anyway, anything worth doing is going to be hard. I guess it's time to get involved. I'll be sending a letter to my local moderator on this issue.

Maybe, but that often leads to big names obscuring smaller ones.

The one thing I've always disliked about the way OCR credits composers for soundtracks is how composers who only offer a few songs to a soundtrack are often given equal credit to the soundtrack as the primary composer. (*cough* Rika Muranaka *cough*)I can understand in cases where discrepancy lies in determining who the primary composers are, but in cases like the Chrono Trigger soundtrack, it's clearly listed in the album who recieves credit for which tracks. This is also most disappointing since the database can list the song arranged, yet cannot distinguish between the composer for that particular song. You'd think that this could be easily remedied by having composers listed as either primary or secondary contributors. In addition, original songs that are arranged could be placed under whether they were created by the primary, secondary or both composers. Still, it seems that OCR would probably not attempt to correct this since (OMG!!1!11) it might give preference for one composer over another. Yes. Yes, it would; the composer who actually deserves the proper credit for the soundtrack. So, although the OCR database will list Nobuo Uematsu as the composer with the most number of ReMixed songs, the actual credit goes to Yasunori Mitsuda.

Just a little suggestion. SILENT HILL 3

Seriously, if there's not a PS9 like that by 2078, I am totally going to throw my walker at them. Or teleport them the contents of my adult diaper.

I've done my fair share of plugging for a little known game series here on the site. Anyway, the first rule of press releasing is knowing the right people. Question is, who are the people you're trying to reach? VG arrangement communities? Game music fans? The general music listener? Music publishers? Mainstream markets? Granted that may be a bit lofty right now, the point is that you really don't need someone to write a press release for you, so much as it seems that you need someone to MAKE a press release for you. However, I suppose part of the fun of making press releases is getting to know other people in the process. Call me, we'll do lunch.

It would be a nice gesture to sticky this thread for the community. But as far as the site is concerned, this thread has little relevence to this forum as a whole, much less the entire site. Making this a sticky would be preferencial treatment and I don't see much reason why the moderators would do that. Besides, the thread's been around for almost four years without much problem. No reason to worry about it dying now. Anyway, with SH0 being back on track and development for SH5 beginning (according to a recent interview with Akira Yamaoka), I think that there will be plenty of information to keep the thread going for a while. Speaking of SH0... WARNING: Possible Silent Hill 0rigins / Silent Hill Spoilers Silent Hill 0rigins Update: IGN's William Oertel Interview; Additional SH0 Videos and Screenshots Released: On Monday, April 23, 2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. revealed their hands-on review of the Silent Hill 0rigins demo in addition to interviewing William Oertel (Producer, Climax Studios) about the changes to the game. Along with the demo-review and the on-hand interview, IGN also revealed some additional screenshots and gameplay videos from the demo. In the interview with Mr. Oertel, he talks about the importance of the experience created by previous Silent Hill games and how his team has attempted to recreate those experiences on the PSP. The important aspects that IGN focused on were the inclusion of the self-shading lighting and the particle/weather effects, items that defined the console games' environments, and character/plot developments, which Mr. Oertel believes combine the best of the series'. All in all, the article didn't necessarily reveal anything that wasn't already mentioned in previous Oertel interviews. Yet, it did provide greater details into the thinking behind the development and from the look of things, that thinking seems justified. In the demo review, IGN reveals that the game will allow players to "portal" between the Misty and Alternate Silent Hill's by pressing against mirrors marked by a bloody handprint. The player will also be able to access items and weapons using the directional buttons on the PSP ala' SH4, however, unlike the previous game, players seem to be able to carry all of their items with them at once. Weapons include Travis' fists, breakable weapons with varying durability limits and special one-hit weapons that can kill ordinary monsters with a single attack. According to reviews, these weapons are environment dependent and cannot be moved from room to room. Lastly, is the inclusion of the ciner-active elements in the game, which have been added for the development of the player's tension. However, it allows players the opportunity to avoid attacks from behind by pressing these on-screen commands making it a little more tense to play, but easier to respond to. In addition to the public videos, through IGN's Insider membership, you view their premium demo-preview which features 9 minutes of extended gameplay (from title sequence to the first enemy encounter). The premium footage is definately worth checking out because you recieve a much more full experience of the game as it enters it's beta stage and it's pleasing for fans of the previous games due to the number of references to those titles. Fortunately, Silent Hill: Origins has partnered with IGN to allow you guys to view the extended gameplay video and also offered it for download. It provides a nice alternate to subscribing to IGN Insiders just for this single video. The extended gameplay video also features more of the original soundtrack, including the introductions for both of the previous trailer songs from the German Games Conference trailer and the Tokyo Game Show trailer. WARNING: Possible Silent Hill 0rigins / Silent Hill Spoilers IGN.com - Silent Hill 0rigins Impressions and Interview IGN.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Images IGN.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Videos SilentHillOrigins.com - Silent Hill 0rigins Intro (First 9 minutes) (.wmv file / 102.64 MB)** Silent Hill 0rigins Extended Gameplay Video [MegaUpload Mirror] (.wmv file / 102.64 MB) **Footnote: Because of the way that Silent Hill: Origins has set-up their page for this story, many of you may only be able to stream the video from the site. However, there is a way to download the video, but rather than betray the site by jakcing their bandwidth, I'm posting a mirror on MegaUpload.com. If you wish to download the preview directly, please use the mirror to conserve SH:O's bandwidth. Personal Note: It seems that after looking at the extended preview provided by IGN, the camera system has completely removed the "RE4" camera mode. Tapping on the L button recenters the camera on Travis ala' Silent Hill 4: The Room. It's a little disappointing to see that, considering that the RE4 mode is better suited for the handheld device and that frankly, SH4's camera system bites hard. Silent Hill theorists are going to have a field day with these preview trailers because of the amount of insight that the game provides on the later installments. I myself was skeptical on how Climax would be able to reference later titles in the game aside from the original, but seeing the demo has completely erased those doubts and made it even cooler than I could have possibly imagined. Sweet stuff.

I heard the same things to the effect and for the most part it seems uncertain. However, there are a few things that you have to consider when looking at the information. For one, the guy/gal controlling the game in the gameplay videos doesn't seem to use the L button at all during his/her play. I've been trying to determine why since there were certainly opportunities for him/her to do so. I suspect that the controls do allow you to switch the camera angle between "Silent Hill 4" mode and "Resident Evil 4" mode, but that the player didn't like the switch very much so they didn't use it. The reasoning is in the way that he moved the character around the stage, wavering in and out of corners and hallways rather than changing the camera angle to see down those areas. It's very similar to the demo gameplay videos from Silent Hill 4: The Room back in 2004. Players in certain areas of the demo stages could not press the L2 button to re-center the camera and so would wander around in odd patterns in order to have the camera see as much as it could. (Needless to say, it makes you a little dizzy to watch.) Yet, in the last video there is a little bit of a problem with my suspicions because while fighting the nurses in the alternate world, the camera centers behind Travis on fallen nurses that you can kick. I can't quite tell if the camera switch is automatic or player-controlled. If the switch was automatic it would confirm that the camera switch mode is the "SH4/RE4" style, but if it was player-controlled, then it would mean that the mode centers on objects/items/events of importance. This control-scheme, though, is the worst of the two since it requires timing in addition to proximity to control on the player's part. Personally, I think it's a matter of poor word choice in describing the camera system as the original GameInformer article only writes one sentence about the camera set-up. The vagueness of the description has thus caused many other sites and news forums to interpret the information as they can. We'd need another game magazine to perform their own demo-run to verify the matter. (I hear PSM has an interview scheduled for their next issue.)

The store I work for is selling their left over Pearl/Diamond stylus' from the pre-order offer for $5.00. They have four left (2 Diamond / 2 Pearl) If you want one, PM me and I'll hold it for you.

Radical, but damn, I'm falling behind in my reports. Screw it, I'll make one anyway for posterity's sake. Also, I'll post links to the Game Informer article which came out on the 20th. WARNING: Possible Silent Hill 0rigins / Silent Hill Spoilers Silent Hill 0rigins Update: New Screenshots, Teasers and Gameplay Videos: On Friday, April 20th, 2007, Game Informer posted their exclusive hands-on report with Silent Hill 0rigins. In the report, they detailed their experience with the latest version of the game. The report showed videos and screenshots of the footage, as well as detailed the changes made to the game compared to the previous gameplay from the demo released in August of 2006. There were a total of 11 screenshots and two short teasers (approx. 40 seconds in length) revealed. The screenshots and videos can be downloaded from the story page as well as from the mirrors linked below. In addition to the new videos, there is also new music previews in the background of the teaser videos displaying some ambience from the completed soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka. Game Informer - Silent Hill 0rigins Exclusive Hands-On GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Gameplay Teaser 1 (.mov file / 5.4 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Gameplay Teaser 1 (.wmv file / 5.1 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Gameplay Teaser 1 (.mp4 file / 2.9 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Gameplay Teaser 2 (.mov file / 5.2 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Gameplay Teaser 2 (.wmv file / 5.1 MB) GameTrailers.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Gameplay Teaser 2 (.mp4 file / 2.9 MB) Silent Hill 0rigins - Game Informer Screenshots (04/20/2007) (.zip file / .jpg files [11 images] / 270 KB) ---------- A few days after the Game Informer article was posted, the PSP branch of QJ.net posted an article providing a much deeper look at the current demo version of the game. The article provided some raw video files of the gameplay of SH0. Although the videos appear to be exclusive to the article, they were originally posted on GameVideos.com on April 20, 2007 and later posted on YouTube / QJ.net. Please note that the video files contain possible spoilers for the game and, although I may not need to point it out for anyone in this thread, definite spoilers for the first game. The video files are supposedly listed in chronological order (in terms of gameplay) and include FMV sequences from the demo, thus the spoilers. Links for the videos are available for viewing from the YouTube links in the QJ.net article, but I've also included the download links from GameVideos.com New music does appear in these videos like the Game Informer videos, but for the most part, the demo contains reused music files from the original Silent Hill. Links Contain Possible Spoilers for SH0 QJ.net - PSP Updates - Silent Hill 0rigins Gameplay Videos GameVideos.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Raw Gameplay Video 1 (.wmv file / 20.4 MB // .mov file / 26.3 MB) GameVideos.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Raw Gameplay Video 2 (.wmv file / 38.9 MB // .mov file / 43.1 MB) GameVideos.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Raw Gameplay Video 3 (.wmv file / 25.2 MB // .mov file / 31.7 MB) YouTube.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Raw Gameplay Video 1 YouTube.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Raw Gameplay Video 2 YouTube.com - Silent Hill 0rigins - Raw Gameplay Video 3 ----------- Personal Notes: I'm incredibly excited about the new trailers/gameplay videos out, because of the return to a more established tradition. Even in a 1 to 2 minute teaser, I got creeped out by the game's form. However, I'm disappointed by the abundant recycling of materials from previous games, particularly the sound effects and music. While I smile whenever I hear the traditional "buh-dum" sound when picking up items in the demo, I frown at the re-use of footstep/attack/miscellaneous/etc. sounds from SH2. While I smile at the new ambience playing in the background of the burning building level, I frown at the re-use of the clanging music from SH1 in the alternate world. Still seems like they are holding on too tightly to the old staples and not trying new things with the portable medium. Anyway, it looks like a certainty that they're not going to have Jarion Monroe or Liz Mamorsky reprise their roles as Dr. Kaufman and Dahlia Gillespie in this title. It's such a shame too, since they still live in the San Francisco area, where the game was originally being developed. The menu system could be streamlined more to access items and equipment easily. The text font is a little to large and block-y for the screen ratio. The screen flashing red every time an enemy attacks is pretty annoying and has some glitches. And, the flashlight aims too low. Otherwise, the game looks great. Using your fists is awesome, but melee' weapons that break sucks. Although still unconfirmed, the game is expected to release in the fall of 2007.

It's been stated before that the FFXIII series was planned as a ten year project. So, yes.

This maybe old news to some people, but there's a really cool fan film being developed for the Metal Gear Solid series. The project began back in 2004, but is being revived into a live-action film called Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy. The trailer was released about two weeks ago and it looks great (near professional stuff). MGS: Philanthropy has a pretty faithful appearance and it's environments look surprisingly like MGS4. Anyway, check out the trailer. Considering that an official feature-length film was announced a while ago as well, do you think that this idea works well in execution based on this fan-trailer? Do you like the concept of Snake leading a small unit? What are your thoughts? Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy - Main Site Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy - Media Page

Bring back the Super Koopa Troopa Show! Maybe...

I know it's a little late, and probably opening still healing wounds, but I just can't get over how brutal this incident was. I'm just reading over various reports and accounts, and the survivors' stories about the incident are just beyond tragic. The videos of this madman that were sent to NBC display just how long his hatred had be festering. In the last one, he looks both angry, regretful, and exillerated. Crazy doesn't really begin to describe his state of mind. I'm sorry to bring this up at this point, but I really can't seem to concentrate on anything else right now. I think that my coping mechanism is just to understand as much of what happened as possible. It may not be of much condolence for anyone else, but I think it helps to talk it out.

Hopefully, I can get something written up for that contest. BTW, congrats to the winners this month.

Any compliments/words of approval and praise that I could give now would simply be repeating what's already been voiced so far. However, I honestly want to say "thank you" for the decidated work on the site. The site has change more lives (for the better) than your own. I would like to take the opportunity to make a suggestion about the site for future incarnations, perhaps better accessibility for mobile devices? Currently, the site doesn't work very well with mobile browsing. The page size is too large for the smaller screens and the text on write-ups gets crammed into almost vertical columns. While I know that mobile browsers don't really make up a noticable portion of the community, being able to view the site while away from a console would be nice. I think that it will become more of an issue in the future as more people are owning Wi-Fi and web-compatible devices, like the PSP, DS, gaming cellular devices and cellphones (and quite possibly in the future, iPods). Besides, it seems to reflect the same attitude about spending time away from a computer console yourself if mobile-browsing OCR were to be made easier. Many other websites currently have mobile-browsing software to adjust for such mobile devices, which fit the screen appropriately to the device and streamline information for faster access or to allow quick search of a site. I think it could really help in making the community more socialable if communication between members could be better accessed away from a console. For all the times I wish that I could show the people that I meet what OCR is by pulling out my phone, I wish that the site was better suited for it. Anyway, those are just my thoughts. Better mobile access! Probably when he goes to court. As to he being appointed as a judge, I doubt it.

Nope. Kentucky is lame like that.

This is a very interesting concept, i.e. "greatest thing ever," and provided that Harmonix can fine tune it, I'd definitely pick it up. Next thing we'd need are "Rock Band" battles. Band against band; brother vs. brother; rock apocalyse the likes of which karoke bars or high school auditoriums have never seen before. Ok, I'm getting carried away, but it's still a cool idea.