Antipode

I was about to say you should really check this out, because it's a really awesome Starcraft song by Shnabubula (intended as a "lost Starcraft song" in the Terran style) but it looks like he's since made the video private for some reason.

NICE. I always wondered why it was shortened.

Most of the other ones mentioned here are just like "oh hey, my friend knows about OCR and played them for me", but this one is the kind of one that's a lot more interesting to me. Just hearing a remix out in the open and unexpectedly (as if it were any other song) would be really surprising. Haven't had it happen yet.

Bear in mind - I'm saying the Wii is bad for the industry (and more specifically, what we get out of the industry) BECAUSE it's successful. It proves to them that they're on the right track because, well, they are! And yet there's a growing hole in titles they release that I personally enjoy, while instead they devote their time and resources into "Wii ____" titles that I simply don't get more than two or three days play out of - and they get billions of dollars for it. Also, it looks like you're saying here that Nintendo fans who got the Wii because of its potential and were disappointed by the lack of games are being forced onto the PS3 and 360 to get the games they actually want to play ("expand their horizons"). You're probably right, and that may be good for the other companies receiving those gamers, but I can't see it as good for Nintendo. I disagree - for instance, The Conduit and MadWorld were supposed to be the big "hardcore solutions" for the Wii the last few months and they were both universally highly-rated and had very underwhelming sales. Why should you even need a "solution" anyway? Developers don't understand why the Wii is underperforming, and they're worried about it. If the gamers who play those games have largely left the Wii as you're suggesting, then at the very least I would say it's bad for Nintendo as some of their developers may leave or only start producing certain games for the Wii. We're seeing that happen already. Basically, as little sense as it makes, Nintendo needs to stop wasting their time making billions of dollars! And again, because Nintendo is so successful, I DO still think it's bad for the others, because they're following close behind. That would be nice - but Nintendo is number one and they aren't looking back, and they're the ones with the 6 or 7 year old tech running both their major platforms. Now Microsoft is making Natal to catch up with Nintendo and saying it "basically serves as a whole new xbox" - but the tech won't have improved any with this "new xbox" - there will only be differences to control. And here comes the Playstation Motion Controller, not far behind. You say the 360 and PS3 are doing so well they don't need to worry about Nintendo, but they're following so tightly in their footsteps that it's hard to ignore their changing business strategies. I hope you're right! Again, I'm all for motion control and whatever else they decide to throw at us. The Wii has had some excellent games that I've gotten a LOT of playtime out of...but there just aren't that many. Either way, I'll always remain excited for the next generation of consoles.

I feel like in the beginning "casual" and "hardcore" were pretty ridiculous to use when applied to games because there was simply no distinction. Now I feel that because the terms started to be considered more legit, games started to be made with the INTENTION of being casual or hardcore. Since that's happened, I think there's no denying that there is a distinction - games, especially from big companies, are designed with the categorization in mind now to give them an idea of how well they might sell and how to market it to different audiences. So my opinion is that whether or not we agree with the initial reasons for the inception of the terms (when applied to games) is irrelevant. Of course, when the term is applied to GAMERS it's something else entirely. About the original post - I heartily agree that the Wii is bad for the industry. It shows that it's very successful to trade development of technology and gameplay concepts for changes to the control scheme and a tightly-controlled public image - which in my opinion means we're kind of dead in the water until everyone gets over the no-controller fascination. I don't see it happening, so my plan has been to just get used to it and enjoy motion control for what it is. And I have been...to a point. There just isn't a lot of great material. What's there can be a lot of fun.

man what

Oh no way! I remember this from AGES ago in WIP! I loved it then and I love it now. I'm glad to see it finally posted! I think I already pretty well showered this with praise, so instead I'll just say that I love what you've done with some very under-appreciated themes. Congrats! I think this (both parts together) is one of the best orchestral mixes on the site by far. The transitions between themes are very well-done, and the timpani just rocks.

I remember back when Kids WB did this in the early 2000s (back when it was still kids WB, anyway) - they started introducing more and more awful live-action shows into their lineup. I think all of them died off pretty fast.

Thanks you guys! Glad you like it.

That's exciting if they interpreted it right, but it seems like they might be jumping to conclusions - I don't think he acknowledged it's real, he just said someday you may see a game called that in stores, but Other M isn't it - and that he's very familiar with the name, but I mean he would be, given how much the name has circulated online. But this is PROMISING! And maaaaaaan if it's true... New sidescrolling Metroid would probably be even more exciting to me than Other M, and that's saying something. Either way, I'm sure we wouldn't see this, if it exists, until after 2010.

Never said it didn't - I meant that's one of the things I do like about it. Also those screens are nice...that scene with Mother Brain looked amazing. I wonder if it's actually in the game somewhere as an FMV or if it was just put together for the trailer.

I say Metroid games don't NEED a driving narrative and should be very personal, isolated experiences. If it were me, I'd take a dozen more exploring giant planet/spaceship games that have plot without having a progression driven by it. I feel like in a Metroid game, exploration should drive the progression, and unlike Zelda, no matter how often it's repeated that kind of Metroid game never loses its magic for me. I AM definitely down for games at least referencing Samus' backstory if not focusing on it (because it's all supposed to have happened, but we've never even seen any of it ingame before!) - just not as much a linear plotline. I think there's a sense of realism in Metroid games that comes from the player having to figure out what's going on, because the characters wouldn't naturally expose that kind of thing to the player - that's the beauty of the scan visor and lore. That said, I'll buy this and play the hell out of it because it DOES look really fun, action-packed and well-made. It's just sad to sacrifice the atmosphere and the amazing style of the Prime games for this anime style, linear plot, and frequently talking Samus, none of which I feel fit Metroid very well. But the action DOES, and if all those scenes in the trailer with a hud are ingame footage, I'm prepared to be blown away. And no matter what it is, it's new Metroid, and I can't wait. This name is really confusing me though. To me, "Other M" really sounds like a development title and not the final name of the game - maybe it will change somewhere down the line?

All I meant were a bunch of new plugins so yeah, software. I was trying not to use any I'd ever used before in any previous tracks. Thanks though, I'm glad you like it!

This isn't a new album, but it's a new track, and that's something! Revolution is the first track I've made with an entirely new instrument set (I tried not to use anything I'd ever used before) and I'm going to try to make several more tracks with this new setup (which I'm liking very much!). This track will be featured on the next album I put out, probably still a long ways off - but I wanted to see what you all would think of it! And I haven't released anything in months, so it's definitely overdue. Most of the work on this track was done over the last few weeks, though I had a few basic parts down several months ago. It's got a lot of energy and atmosphere, and sounds good loud! (Revolution - 7.5M - 5:26) Comments are always appreciated!

I've been thinking about this recently too - Mustin's first post has most adequately expressed what I would want to say. The music now adheres much more tightly to much stricter standards, and the result is generally better production quality - but it can be left there. My personal favorites are also from '03/'04, interestingly enough. I do feel that these days with the different standards, certain genres are accepted far more easily than others - such as tracks which feature live instruments and/or vocals. I can understand why, because those tracks demonstrate a certain musicianship and will become harder to reject if they follow the standards of a remix well enough - but it also (for whatever reason) means that many other tracks seem to not be accepted as often (though we do still see them around from time to time). Of course though, it's hard to say something like this when I haven't heard all the tracks that have been rejected - but the end result either way is a certain trend toward some genres and away from others. Of course I'm not trying to say this trend JUST leads at times to (personally) boring music - there's also some new avant-garde kinds of remixes I HAVEN'T seen before, and I think DJP was saving a few of these up for recent posting to freshen things up a bit (the percussion mix, the bottle mix, etc). But those seem to be the exception and you get my point - the change in genres resulting from the new standards may be part of the change a lot of people talk about. The other main thing I think has impacted the music over the years is what Jam brought up - the longtime members who remain on the site have definitely gotten a lot better in skill and focus a lot more time on detailing, while many other recognizable longtime members have left or don't seem to submit anymore. That changes the overall "sound" of the site too. There are a lot more floods of new submitters which can freshen things up, but there's something to be said for having a lot of recognizable artists submitting around here to look forward to. It was ALWAYS exciting for me to see a new Prot track on the frontpage, and things like that just don't happen much anymore. Some of that is probably a combination of me not being quite as "into" the newer music and just plain missing the old artists, but there's definitely more to it. I also think the evolution of OCR goes much deeper than the music. It's on a much bigger stage now - it's a well-known site, it's officially made a soundtrack as an organization for a major Capcom game, and it has regular panels at conventions! Those are all awesome, crowning achievements, in my opionion - but they do lead to a number of things. One is that now, I'm seeing some artists are more regularly USING remixes as a conduit to gain attention to their other, personal projects, instead of remixing for the sake of the site and the music. This isn't necessarily a bad thing (though it can really get irritating sometimes) because usually these artists are what I'd personally label "top-tier" anyway (and it still leads to more remixes anyway), but it does contribute, for me anyway, to a certain change of atmosphere. More of these things are the stricter standards, the more vigorous promotion of site album projects on all fronts, the recent final mix removals and cleanup, the changes to the site design, the recent (and already well-talked-about) changes to the forums, and changes in the style of the mix release writeups. It all lends to making the important transition to the appearance of a more professional organization, but I also feel a lot of that takes away from the community togetherness and devotion to music the site once had. I think these changes in atmosphere can easily get mixed up with how much people like the new music (as it, too, is part of the site) - and many people don't like the new music as much as a result - but I'd call that just another reason and not the only one. Just some thoughts, didn't mean any offense.

Okay, this is badass.

Your project looks really impressive! I might be very interested, if you still need more material, in doing one of the Zerg tracks. I can send you some samples if you like. But yeah - definitely hit up Sam.

Hey this is pretty jammin'! But what happened to all your other cool improv vids?

Man I would be so down for the chronicles of boba fett.

I don't think anyone's suggesting a "storyless" or at least "backstoryless" metroid movie/show. What I'm all for is something that acknowledges all the backstory and doesn't go against canon, but doesn't FOCUS on it. A movie about the Samus we know from the games completing some new mission with a new plot would be WAY more exciting to me than watching K2-L get raided and all that. And as I said, I'm all for flashbacks when necessary. Basically, look at the way the animated Clone Wars series took Star Wars. It was almost all amazing-looking, incredibly well-designed action and art, with lots of references to backstory (oh hey look, there's a gamorean! Oh look, that's one of those IG-88 droids) and all that. Yeah, I know the Star Wars background has been covered millions of times, but I'm referring just to the production and the type of show Metroid could have. If this hypothetical metroid show/movie were handled this way it would be highly entertaining to general sci-fi fans and would still massage all the metroid diehards! Basically, I just feel like it could be way more effective if it covered almost all new ground - not lacking in necessary backstory or anything, but instead focusing on NEW plot and connecting gaps in the games instead of retreading what's already been done.

Both of these together! I would LOVE to see somebody pull something like this off. I would watch every episode. Better yet, now that Prime 3 has introduced lots of new characters who talk (like the Federation marines, the Admiral, new hunters, etc) - I think it could be done easily. Samus would still need to talk, but not that much - let the other characters handle most of the drama and plot, let Samus handle all the exploration and action and all that. This could easily be done as a movie, too - but I like the idea of a clone-wars-ish kind of setup. More to the point, I say screw focusing the show/movie on her backstory. Just set the whole show in between, say, Prime 3 and Metroid 2, and have flashbacks when necessary to explain her backstory during the show. FUND IT

I always thought the best thing about these was that they DIDN'T use autotune! They guy made the whole arrangement just based on their tones of voice. I wish he'd do more! EDIT: And don't forget this one: - my favorite of the three!

Yeah actually I've always been extremely impressed with how much material they've managed to organize and arrange into their universe over the years. It's so easy to get lost in reading about.

Personally I find albums that are all one style to be much more boring than albums with lots of ideas and variety. If you make an album, even a concept album, there's no reason for you to think "no one will listen to it" unless you make them all similar tracks. Just make what you feel like!

Hahaha. Incidentally, I just noticed I'm in the Unmod South Park vol. 1, and I'd completely forgotten about it. Awesome.