Satan's Sudoku

The things people say tend to be either profound, idiotic, conversational, entertaining or derogatory. If the person is of high skill with worditude, sometimes the two can be blended together like an artist mixes paint. Most of time, though, things are rather monochrome. You know when someone tries to go for one effect and ends up hitting a different one altogether? Yeah. Like that.

If you're a fellow nerd like me and read Kotaku on a daily basis, you may have found this gem among the slew of near-daily accounts of some pundit claiming Videogames as something derogatory. It's this interesting criminal watch that seems almost as obscure as terrorism. According to the media, not only are Videogames responsible for the death of school kids, but also the cause of obesity (thanks, McDonalds president), mental wonkiness such as ADD, child aggression towards parents, and now this as claimed by The Times writer Janice Turner:

Once, such kids would be the playground outcasts, but no longer. Mine are. Because, unlike the TV-hating parents, I refuse to buy them portable gaming consoles, Xboxes, GameCubes, PS2s. These are Satan's Sudoku, crack cocaine of the brain. Even the crappiest cartoon or lamest soap teaches a child about character, plot, drama, humour, life. Playing videogames, children are mentally imprisoned, wired into their evil creators' brains. And they play them - beepety-beep - on journeys, over family meals, any minute in which they find themselves unamused. And their parents never seem to say, hey, this is the bit where you pick up a book. Or game over, kids: get an inner life.

Oh burn. Wait, no. Let's take a closer examination of some of these phrases. Because these are golden! Brilliant writing, even!

These are Satan's Sudoku, crack cocaine of the brain.

I can already hear the beat start to flow. This is un-tapped potential! Keep goin'!

And they play them - beepety-beep

Oh how I wish there were audio clips of this person reciting such a vocal, rhythmic and outspoken article. I would sample it to no end. Unfortunately for her credibility, there are certain aspects of the article that are downright incorrect, and it would be an injustice for me to not point them out liberally.

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Once, such kids would be the playground outcasts, but no longer. Mine are.

So essentially what she's saying is that in some far-off time ago, children who play videogames would be playground outcasts. Yet, this is no longer the case! Because they're so popular, and are therefore cool! Sorry big momma, the kids who play games at recess are still kicked in the junk or ignored. They still band together and form little elitist circles. Times haven't changed all too much. And of course, at the end, she contradicts herself by stating that her kids are in fact playground outcasts. Way to stand up for your defense. Way to totally downplay your entire argument by saying that, despite your best intentions, your kids are still social failures. Guess it was inevitable. Guess you should give 'em their games. But wait, what's this?

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I refuse to buy them portable gaming consoles, Xboxes, GameCubes, PS2s.

There's the problem! No wonder her kids were playground outcasts, they must've looked like the coolest kids on the block with those Xboxes strapped to their back plugged into VR glasses. Of course I'm sure her intention was to include portable games in the same category as those she listed by name, but the poor writing really gives the wrong impression.

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Even the crappiest cartoon or lamest soap teaches a child about character, plot, drama, humour, life.

A bold statement! Let's investigate.

Crappy Cartoon: Garfield and Friends
Source:imdb
Evidence

Character: "The star of the series was Garfield, a lazy feline whose only desires in life were lasagna, catnaps and kicking his hapless canine companion, Odie, off the table. The show also starred Garfield's hopelessly-single owner, Jon Arbuckle."

Plot: "Each Garfield adventure featured Garfield's adventures..."

Drama: "Garfield: Arbuckle! Remember the a la mode!"

Humour: "Mr. Sprocket: Kids don't want to see a cartoon about a cat. Garfield: They're culturally deprived."

Life: "Garfield: Microwave lasagna. Possibly nature's most perfect food."

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Playing videogames, children are mentally imprisoned, wired into their evil creators' brains.

Now this, this is golden. It's a thing of beauty, taking metaphor into the wild realm of sci-fi realism where my mental image of this supposed occurrence goes wild.

Picture, if you will, a helpless nine-year-old. Cue low-frequency hum as the kid spots a Wii sitting across the room, its blue light pulsing slowly... As if in a trance, the child inches toward the device. Close-up of a chubby little hand as it grasps the Wii Remote. Flash! The kid's eyes go wild as the Wii's disc light blazes crimson and the infernal device powers on. The kid tries to scream, but no sounds emerge from his lips as he intently watches the screen before him. Rapid eye movement takes over and the child is now walking through an industrial office. People around him speak rapidly and in a foreign tongue. As he approaches a door on his left, the small rectangular pane of glass reveals that he is Shigeru Miyamoto. The door opens slowly, revealing a hooded man sitting alone in the room, his back to the entourage of Japanese business men. A brief glint of light flashes across the dagger Miyamoto now raises. It's too much for the kid to handle. He blacks out and falls, obesely, to the ground.

Top Fives of Another Breed - Part I

This is not to say that my lists contain dogs or the like, but rather a curious assortment of music shout-outs I thought ought to be shouted. Of course, this list is entirely subjective being that it's an opinion from my limited perspective. There were a lot of games released this year. Consequently, there were many game soundtracks released as well. Either officially or unofficially. Sadly, often times a good soundtrack does not a good game make. Or rather, not one of wide acclaim. I aim to point out some sleeper hits in the music department as well as other top accolades of the oh-seven annual. As a note, I'm not placing these in any specific order. It's just an arbitrary assortment grouped into fives. Today, I'll cover game soundtracks. Part II will contain the other music CDs I've enjoyed in the year.

Game Soundtracks

• Ar Tonelico II

The folks at Gust love 2D. Turn-based RPG-style 2D. And alchemy. They also used to love MIDI. However, it seems that with moving away from the Atelier Iris series and into the Ar Tonelico world, more sophisticated renderings came with. I've always enjoyed Gust soundtracks, but this one really nailed it for me as far as re-kindling the old emotional attachment to strong themes and beautifully written melodic work. The two arranged CDs released only top things off, bringing arrangements for multiple female vocals to many of the game's tunes along with their complex and weaving lines. I was afraid that the heyday of Japanese RPG soundtracks had ended with Mitsuda and Uematsu all but leaving the scene, but Gust's audio team keeps proving me wrong.

• Wild Arms the Vth Vanguard

Wild Arms has a legacy of great music paired with mediocre games, and it seems the same holds true here. While the original game's composer is not present this time around, her spirit lives on in the tunes written by the two composers for this title in a multitude of styles. The main style of the game seems to be some sort of bizarre hybrid of spaghetti western whistling, disco beats + strings, and flamenco guitar. Whatever it is, it works, and the main themes and battles have some of the most memorable melodies written this year. When not in western mode, the music ventures into a precious category that I can't explain the details of but instantly evokes memories of one of my favorite RPGs: Skies of Arcadia. Though the composers are different in entirety, there must have been some influence from one to the other as the similarities are remarkable.

• Blue Dragon

It took me a long time to appreciate the music in Blue Dragon. You see, I have a bit of beef with Nobuo Uematsu. I tend to have a selective memory when it comes to certain musical elements, and Uematsu is one composer that I really have to listen to the right stuff at the right time to remember why I love what he writes.

There are three things that I can't stand about his compositions: First and foremost, he has only ever written two villain themes in his life. Kefka's theme, and everyone else's theme. (One-Winged Angel doesn't count, as it's different from Sephiroth's theme, and it's been so over-played it makes me want to vomit.)  I'm sure you're familiar with the latter. It's in nearly every Final Fantasy game. I'd hum it here if I weren't writing text. And even after finally separating himself from the fantasy, moving on to new ventures as his own business with Smile Please, he constantly makes me frown with the usage of that same fucking theme yet again in Blue Dragon. The second thing? Ridiculously sappy vocal themes. As much as Uematsu is a great instrumental writer, he is not a good songwriter and never has been. The only time that a good vocal theme has come from him is when lyrics are put to his existing instrumental themes. (See: Roaming Sheep from FFIII) Apologies to those who wept in sympathy for Squall then 'Eyes on Me' started playing in the spaceship Ragnarok. It's a terrible song. Sure, the instrumental versions of it are lovely, but engrish vocals sung by poppity pop stars just doesn't work for me. The third peeve is more of a recent one, and has to do with his increasing reliance on orchestrations and his rock band The Black Mages. One of the main reasons Uematsu has been hailed as a genius in his compositions for games is due to the sheer variety of textures and experimentation in instrument groupings. To suddenly utilize a singular sound seems to go against all that I thought his music stood for.

However, as the case may be, I eventually realized I was wrong about Blue Dragon. It's not just a "git er dun" soundtrack by Uematsu. I've yet to actually play the game that it accompanies, but the music here tells a strong, albeit youthful, story filled with all sorts of the same wonderful quirky nuances that I'd come to love from Uematsu's music. Yes, the villain theme is the exact same as it's always been. Yes, there's not only one but four increasingly ridiculous vocal themes. Yes, there's a lot of live players... However, it took me a while to realize that while the live players were there it was still strongly comprised of Uematsu's style and pairings regardless. And I still loved listening to it.

• Persona 3

 While Ar Tonelico II and Wild Arms 5 explore expanded sounds of yesterday and Blue Dragon explores an elaborated voice of an experienced composer... Persona 3 takes game music into a totally new realm in a wonderful way. Granted, it's not an entirely unique perspective. The same composer has been around for years, writing music for the Shin Megami Tensei series. However, P3 is probably the most approachable of all SMT games and also the most mature when it comes to the skill of writing. The music is not only topical to the game, but as a soundtrack it is very listenable on its own as a sort of dark hip-hop album. Like Ar Tonelico II, it also has a great arranged soundtrack that accompanies it as a great way to listen to the music on the go in a non-looping fashion.

• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Yes, I do enjoy non-Japanese game soundtracks! Also on my list this year would have been Heavenly Sword, but due to the fusion of the experience and music I decided to give Uncharted the edge. Part of it may have to do with my infatuation with the TV show Firefly. When I found out that composer Greg Edmonson was to be the composer working on Uncharted, I nearly fell out of my chair in excitement. The man's a very talented composer, and his first foray into the world of interactive music left me extremely optimistic for the future of his music. While I do love my gamey games, as is evident by the first four soundtracks mentioned, Edmonson's music takes the game of Uncharted and creates the atmosphere of a high-budget serial TV show. I won't say movie, because it doesn't quite feel like one and for good reason. The game is more of the style of the afternoon serials that the Indiana Jones movies were fashioned after. All the evidence is there: A tight, wildly entertaining ensemble cast. A mysterious island with a secret. A twist towards the climax that propels you to the end. It was almost like watching a season of Lost that fucking made sense at the end. That said, the music kept me in that atmosphere. If it had been any other score, I would've been making game associations and the like. None of which bad, but Edmonson gave the game its own wonderful flavor with strong character-driven themes and some excellent action tunes to boot.

Improvements for the New Year

Just briefly, at the end here, I wanted to touch on some of my disappointments with this year's soundtracks and how things might improve by composers moving into the new year.

• Focus yourself, Sakimoto

Hitoshi Sakimoto's newly founded independent studio put out an amazing number of soundtracks this year, and unfortunately it shows in the individual quality of each. A grand total of seven scores were vomited out: FFXII Revenant Wings, Grim Grimoire, Odin Sphere, Deltora Quest, ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, Final Fantasy Tactics A2. Not only that, but Sakimoto also scored the anime series Romeo x Juliet. How did he do it? Simple: Write the main themes and a few battle themes and let your company's fellow composers finish the rest. Or, in Revenant Wings and FFTA2's cases... just recycle music from previous games. I'm sorry, but that's just fucked up. Sakimoto in general pissed me off this year. He wrote a brilliant soundtrack to one of 2006's best RPGs, Final Fantasy XII... And as a result, he gets extremely popular and everyone wants to hire him. Instead of being choosey and selecting his projects carefully, he takes on every single one of them and does a piss poor job at it recycling themes even when it's not for the same franchise. Pre-2007 Sakimoto had a distinctive style yet still remained unique to the game he worked on. Now, I don't know what to think as it almost sounds as if he's ripping himself off constantly. Final Fantasy Tactics A2's soundtrack in particular is a joke. It's one thing to remix tracks from the original FFTA, but to include the exact same pieces used in both FFXII and Revenant Wings in yet another game? That's the laziest excuse for soundtrack writing I've ever come across. You're better than this.

• Where did you go, Mitsuda?

Meanwhile, Yasunori Mitsuda's independent studio keeps getting more and more obscure as the years go by. Instead of gaining popularity, Mitsuda seems to be constantly losing it. The last good soundtrack to come from Mitsuda and his company was the CD Hako no Niwa, the score to Magic Pengal 2, back in 2004. Since then, he's released a compilation soundtrack with Miki Higashino that didn't really gain much attention. In 2005, he released a beautiful CD called KiRite. Then finally, this year, he released the soundtrack to a game called Armodyne that was so under-the-radar that no one has ever heard of it outside of Japan. The music isn't even good at all, sounding like a pale shade of Xenogears with all the life sucked out of it. One thing is clear for 2008: Yasunori Mitsuda needs to make a major comeback.

• Will US developers continue to defect to other media?

It's hard to get a job writing music for games. It's even harder to do it in the US. 2007 made this brutally clear. Greg Edmonson scoring Uncharted. A famous British composer scoring Heavenly Sword. A Hollywood composer scoring Lair. In-house composers at major companies continuing to write for their respective games, no matter the quality of the music. The fact is that there is a dangerously popular trend going on in the US game development houses where established composers in other media are being given trump card against new and upcoming artists. Yes, they have experience, but this is an insular way of thinking. I suppose it's just wishful thinking on my part that the concept of "new and exciting" will sometime strike a chord in the minds of these game creators wishing to not only expand the vocabulary of games, but to expand the definition of "game soundtrack" beyond those containing the words "cinematic" and "dramatic".

That's all from me. I'll write more on non-gamey themes later!

Someone Spiked the Kool-Aid

As a general disclaimer, I don't really have any strong feelings toward award shows or industry acclaims other than mine and my friends'. There's a good bit of difference between general exclamation and private acceptance. Whether a game is the "best thing ever" otherwise known as "GotY" or just a drop in the puddle, it all boils down to personal preference and the like. So when I tear into these award nominations, that's where I'm coming from.

So here we go: the Spike Videogame Awards. With so many online publications and blogs disclaiming their own listing of these nominations with "okay so the awards were terrible in the past, but now that we're on the judging panel the people's voice is heard!", I expected much more. Or rather, I expected more obscure games that the general public may have not heard about to be represented. That said, let's jump straight into Game of the Year. I'm skipping the "Most Addictive Game Fueled by Dew" because I hate the stuff and it's an arbitrary award anyway.

Game of the Year

• BioShock
• Halo 3
• Mass Effect
• The Orange Box

This won't be the first time I point out the obvious bias in the selection here. Could these awards be any more heavily sponsored by Microsoft? I'm not saying that the games mentioned here aren't good. In fact, they're all great games. However, there's a serious lack of anything not on a MS platform.

Should have been nominated: Super Mario Galaxy. Where is it? The "not released yet" card can't be played with anything nominated considering that Mass Effect has yet to be released or even played through in full. Another addition I would have liked to see is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Judging from the demo alone, it's going to be one of the most engrossing adventures in quite some time.

What will win: BioShock. The reception from both fans and press alike is pointing favorably to this game taking the gold. It's hard to argue with it, though depending on the crowd involved in the voting process Halo 3 could take it simply because it's Halo and people like to orgasm over it.

What should win:  The Orange Box, for Portal alone. As I mentioned earlier on this blog, Portal is one of the games that's changed my perspective on gaming. For that reason alone, I'd give it the highest award of the year. Additionally, the Half Life franchise is wonderful and continues to deliver. And then the added bonus of my 2nd favorite multi-player experiences this year in TF2. It's one hell of a package that, if not entirely new, blew me away.

Best Shooter

• BioShock
• Halo 3
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• The Orange Box

Amusingly enough, I only had to change one of the entries there from the "GotY" award. Yeah that's right, America loves FPS games. I don't. That's where my bias comes into play, especially when considering the "best of" awards. However, due to the title of this award "best shooter", I think there's going to be a different outcome.

What will win: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game really is good enough to win it, and I think the fact that it's very much a straight-ahead shooter will give it the edge over the competition in this award. BioShock, while amazing in its own right, is more of a Metroid Prime style adventure-with-shooting type of game. The Orange Box's Portal is more of a puzzle game, TF2 falls more into the "multi-player" category, and Episode 2 isn't substantial enough to be considered for the award.

What should win: Orange Box's Portal, because I'm bias. I don't know actually. Given my reasons above, I'd be willing to say CoD4 as well. There's lots of shooting, even if I don't personally agree with the morality behind it all.

Best Action Game

• Assassin's Creed
• God of War 2
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Alas, gone are the days of the sub-genres "action-adventure" and "platformer". With such a heavy focus perspective these days, the two major categories might as well be divided into two: "First Person Action" and "Third Person Action". Which then brings to mind a curious experimentation: "Second Person Action". I'd love to see someone try it! It's totally possible. But I digress.

What will/should win: If all is good and well with the world, Mario Galaxy. Ratchet is an amazing game, but it pales in the shadow of Mario's superiority of the platforming genre. Assassin's Creed and God of War 2 are in much different genres, in my honest opinion, but they do deserve a solid nod from the nomination squad. If pitted against each other in a battle royale, I'd likely give the bonus cookie to Assassin's Creed for being so different and starring a male character that isn't fueled solely on adrenaline.

Best Rhythm Game

• Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the 80s
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
• Jam Sessions
• Rock Band

It's amusing that this genre isn't called "Best Music Game", because if so I'd imagine the Singstar titles might stand a better chance to get nominated. Either way, this award is really a competition between Guitar Hero and Rock Band. GH Encore is just an expansion pack, and Jam Sessions has nothing to do with rhythm. Seriously, you just stroke chords to suggested lead sheets. So, established franchise or a worthy step in a new direction.

What will/should win: Rock Band. Guitar Hero is a great franchise. It established the US interest in peripheral-based rhythm games. However, GHIII is really just a riff off of what made it great in the past. Rock Band is the true new evolution and it shows it off with its rocker customization, full band playability, a career mode in the vein of an EA Sports title, and a promising downloadable content plan that combines the accessibility of iTunes with a total music experience.

Best RPG

• Eternal Sonata
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
• Mass Effect
• Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

Ah, the first evidence of Japanese games (other than Mario)! 2007 may have been a great year for gaming, but it certainly was lacking in quantity for quality RPGs. It seems to always happen with the beginning of new generations of console releases, so 2008 and beyond will most likely look more solid. There are some curious omissions here, however.

Should have been nominated: Jeanne d'Arc. While I love the hell out of Final Fantasy Tactics, it remains that the game is 10 years old rather than the rest of the titles here. Jeanne, on the other hand, is an awesome new SRPG that does some new things for the genre while maintaining the integrity of what has come before it. Also receiving the snub is Folklore, a game I am enjoying far more than most reviewers seem to have. Yes, it's an RPG. You level up. It's also very fresh and new. Plus, where is Blue Dragon? Did reviewers get so turned off by the boss battle music and art direction to totally put it off in favor of the stereotypical trash that encompasses most of Eternal Sonata? Sorry, that's a harsh word. However, I think regardless Blue Dragon would have been a more worthy nomination.

What will win: Mass Effect. The unfortunate truth is that, when given a light-hearted and fun RPG (Persona 3) versus a hardened and epic RPG (Mass Effect), the epic one will come out on top. Who's to say which is better? I'd be pretty torn if I were on the voting committee. Cinematic and operatic. Quirky and Japanese. Both solid games. I'd give it a tie.

Best Driving Game

• Colin McRae: DiRT
• Forza Motorsport 2
• Need for Speed ProStreet
• Project Gotham Racing 4

Not my thing, really. I have no idea what will win or should win. I hear Forza 2 is pretty sweet though, if only for its livery customization.

Best Military Game

Why is this even a category? If so, where are the best Fantasy games or best Sci-Fi games? I don't even want to bother listing the nominees here.

Studio of the Year

• Bungie Studios
• Harmonix
• Irrational Games
• Valve

The Studio award is much like the 'Director' award in how it relates to "Best Film". It usually, if not always, gets given to the studio that developed the best game of the year. Therefore, I'll predict that Harmonix doesn't stand a chance and that depending on what the "GotY" is, either Bungie (Halo), Irrational (BioShock) or Valve (Orange Box) will get it.

Best Graphics

• BioShock
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Crysis
• Mass Effect

What a loaded category. Really, this should have been titled: "Best Graphics, Realistic". Sure, BioShock has a bit more of an artistic spin to them, especially in the enemy department, but on the whole this award seems to be only recognizing developers' abilities to render digital actors and movie sets.

Best Graphics, Artistic: Super Mario Galaxy, Ratchet & Clank Future, Folklore, Heavenly Sword. Let's not be limited by hardware here, people. When judging from an artistic point of view, the lack of HD simply does not matter for Mario. The game is beautiful in its design and presentation. Ratchet & Clank was given accolades for its "near-Pixar beauty", and really deserves a nod. Folklore is simply gorgeous, with one of the coolest art styles yet represented in a game. And then Heavenly Sword failing to get any recognition for its beautiful cutscenes, art direction and most importantly its animation... it's simply criminal.

What should have been nominated: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Come on guys, it's coming out on the same day as Mass Effect. It looks brilliant. It's just as realistic as all the rest on the list. Why the snub?

What will win: Crysis. It's a no-brainer really. Especially in this crowd of realism emphasis, Crysis takes the cake with its mind-blowing rendition of reality. Depending on the voters love for military games, CoD4 may get the nod since more people are likely to have the consoles to play it versus Crysis' intense PC requirements.

What should win: On a purely technical standpoint, Crysis. But when you add in artistic flavor into the mix, both Mass Effect and BioShock look more appealing in terms of creating new environments that are iconic of the game. I'm personally split between the two, if given the choice of the nominations.

Breakthrough Technology

• Crysis
• Halo 3
• Portal
• Rock Band

What shouldn't have been nominated: Rock Band. Harmonix, I love ya, but it was done almost 10 years ago. The drums, almost 9. The Karaoke, since the dawn of time. That's not breakthrough technology.

What will win: Crysis. With such a heavy emphasis on on graphics in the new generation of consoles and PCs and the like, I think it's an unfortunate victory that will likely go to CryTek's solid engine.

What should win: Portal. It changes gaming. 'Nuff said.

Best PS3 Game

• Heavenly Sword
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
• Warhawk

There they are! I found them! Heavenly Sword, yum. Uncharted, yes. Warhawk, hell yes. Why these games aren't nominated for anything else is just silly. Yet here they are, head to head in a battle for obscurity.

What will/should win: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. This game, while unreleased, seems prone to be delivering the best performance out of any PS3 game this year. I'm anticipating it hotly, and I think a decent portion of the gaming population is as well.

Best Wii Game

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Super Paper Mario

I can't help but get a good chuckle when looking at this list, if only because the list never changes from year to year. On a Nintendo console, we play Nintendo games. That's simply the way of it. Nintendo makes their classic franchises, we eat em all up, and at the end of the day it's what gets remembered the best. Also, why is Zelda on here? It's a 2006 game. I suppose they really wanted to trick out the Big N Trifecta to be even more obvious.

What will/should win: Super Mario Galaxy. It's really a given. Out of all Nintendo franchises, Mario is always the one that comes out on top in terms of nostalgia and player appreciation.

Best Xbox 360 Game

• BioShock
• Halo 3
• Mass Effect
• The Orange Box

Remember when I said these award nominations were bias? I'm getting a slight tinge of deja-vu looking at this list... Oh right, it's the Game of the Year listing! Silly me. Whoever wins GotY will also win this, so the same predictions apply.

Best PC Game

• BioShock
• Crysis
• The Orange Box
• World in Conflict

Win it, Orange Box! You know you can do it! At least one of these copious nominations will be yours!

[insert obligatory sports game nominations here]

Sorry, I can't talk intelligently about games I don't play.

Best Soundtrack

• BioShock
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
• Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
• Rock Band

I had to do a bit of a double-take here, then remember that "soundtrack" applies to licensed music, whereas "original score" is where the real meat is. That said, there's some good collections of tracks here.

What will win: Either Guitar Hero III or Rock Band, likely. It depends on the judge's preferences. However, my opinion lies elsewhere...

What should win: BioShock will probably get passed up in favor of the huge rock collections of the music games. However, I have to give them major props for the awesome implementation of period music into the environment. It's an unconventional application of licensed music in a situation that simply makes sense in a narrative game. In the case of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, it's sort of a given that licensed tracks will be involved.

Best Original Score

• BioShock
• God of War 2
• Halo 3
• Mass Effect

I have a problem with this list. It's far too impersonal for a score of the year award. Ideally, I think the composer's name should be listed along with the award since it really is a personal accolade as much as it is a recognition of the game's features.

I also have a problem with the nominations. BioShock may have a cool theme, but the majority of the score is either the licensed tracks mentioned above, or riffing off of the techniques introduced in Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. That's not a bad thing by any means. It shows a great deal of skill and balls to create a score so atonal and dissonant in an art that traditionally praises melodic grace. However, it doesn't fall into my qualifications for a great score. God of War 2, while epic, really doesn't do too much different from its first iteration. Halo 3, similarly, continues the thread from 2. Mass Effect, on the other hand... How the hell can people know if it's a good score yet? It's one thing to make prejudging opinions based on trade show hands-on time and preview builds... But to judge the entire soundtrack based on these? Sorry, not gonna work for me.

What should've been nominated: Here's where I bust out. Super Mario Galaxy. This game not only has an amazing soundtrack, but its use of dynamic and adaptive programming is masterful. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The music is top notch, composed by Greg Edmonson of Firefly fame. Heavenly Sword. The beauty in this soundtrack is really something to behold, as it contains some excellent writing and a wonderful usage of ethnic instruments in interesting combinations. Hell, I would even nominate Everyday Shooter for totally blurring the lines between an indie rock album, sound effects and a game soundtrack. Notice a running thread here? All these soundtracks did something new. With the exception of BioShock and possibly Mass Effect, the nominations really didn't.

What will win: Halo 3. The community knows no hate for Marty and his monks. Similarly so for his main theme that just sort of riffs off of traditional Celtic motifs and chord progressions. My thoughts? Good music, not great, and certainly not score of the year.

What should win: Out of the ones listed? Mass Effect, only judging from the music I've heard in gameplay demos and trailers. Am I being absolutely hypocritical here? Yes. But given the alternatives, I'd much rather give this one the accolade. Plus, it has some great efforts by both an industry veteran and a new composer. I'm all for encouraging new composers getting into the industry *cough*.  However, left to my own devices, I would personally give the award to Heavenly Sword. Now if only a soundtrack was released for it. iTunes, I'm lookin' at you. Lair's OST was released, so there's no reason HS can't get a similar treatment.

Best Multiplayer Game

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Halo 3
• Rock Band
• The Orange Box

This is actually a bit of a challenging pick. However, my ultimate choice isn't listed here.

What should have been nominated (and win): Warhawk. Plain and simple. It's a standalone multiplayer game, pulls it off to a T, and has been one of the most fun I've had playing with my friends locally and online.

What will win: A difficult one. Unfortunately, TF2 will likely be overlooked in favor of badboy Halo 3. That'll likely win it. Rock Band will get a nod, and CoD4 probably is too obscure at this point and not popular enough to win overall.

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Phew, so, that's it eh? I covered pretty much everything I wanted to, leaving out a few obscure categories that I had no experience to talk about, and there you have it. Overall, not too pleased. Sure, it's a bit better than last year's total crap fest that attempted to be an award show... And sure, the nominations are at least much more solid than BAFTA's pathetic lineup that ended up giving 6 awards to Wii Sports. But, as an award show with integrity... I give the following suggestions:

1. Do not hold the nominations, awards or show until 2007 is over.
2. Make the awards more personal. We need to treat AAA games less as products with features and more as artistic efforts created by a skilled team of individuals.
3. Try not to be so bloody jaded. Yes, that means acknowledging that there are in fact some great games on Wii and PS3.
4. Create separate awards for downloadable games. With Live Arcade, Steam and PSN getting cooking, and Wii Ware on its way... 2008 better be equipped to deal with the onslaught of independent games and their impact on the industry. It will be huge.

That's it for me. We'll see how the actual awards compare!

Gateway C-140 + M-Audio FireWire 410

 

The past few days have seen the delivery of two new additions to my studio setup. But first, some back story.

Ever since my old Macbook kicked the bucket several years back and I transitioned to using my desktop PC full-time, I've been pining for the mobility of a notebook computer again. Recently, a near-death experience with my desktop's hard drive caused me to seriously consider the purchase of a new computer. With nary the funds to bust at this point in time, I managed to work out a deal with my dad to split the cost considering that it would be a justifiable business expense. With the two of us set to collaborate on a new CD project, the timing was perfect.

So, I began to research and plot and figure out how exactly my new studio would look and function. Especially taking into account the fact that I'll be moving into an apartment soon. Ultimately, I decided to create a modular studio that could work in several different configurations. At home, everything would combine into Voltron. You have the laptop functioning as the central hub and secondary monitor, my 20" widescreen serving as the main monitor, a new M-Audio interface hooked up into the mixer and speakers, and hooking up the mouse + keyboard of my current PC for ease of use, along with any other devices that need to be used (printer, scanner, etc.)

In portable mode, there would be two main configurations. Along with the audio interface, the laptop could be used remotely as a portable audio recording setup so long as I have access to a power outlet for the M-Audio bit (since my laptop's FireWire port isn't a 6-pin). And then as a standalone, the laptop I chose is one of the best combinations I could find of durability, power and ease of use. Gateway has been in a bit of a slump previously, but they're slowly returning to their former glory with some very smart configs being put out there. The C-140 is one of them, and it's a very fun and functional notebook/tablet.

 

I always love it when computer manufacturers surprise you with an overestimated shipping date. The day I was given was November 7th, this coming Wednesday... However, upon returning home after working overtime on Thursday the 1st, I found this lovely box awaiting me!

 

Having shed its cow-like exteriors, the box within was very slick and handle-ready, much like a certain line of Apple-produced products. Considering the look and functionality of Gateway's new "One", you can definitely tell they're going for that hip aesthetic that works so well.

 

Out of the box, a very unique shape for a laptop. This was before attaching the battery, which made it even more curvy. It has a rubber bump to it that feels very nice when toting it around, and doubles as a prop to angle the keyboard for better typing posture.

 

Open, it looks like your typical laptop. Yet, with a few additional buttons on the left-bottom of the screen. That, and the conspicuous hinge. One thing to note about this photo is that the touch pad is indeed as uncomfortable as it looks. Particularly the buttons, as their clicks are extremely stiff. A minor gripe, considering that I'll mainly be using a USB mouse and the pen.

 

Ah yes, the hinge. What's this? Has my laptop gone exorcist on me?

 

Apologies for the shoddy photo. Damn phone cameras. However, this is the result of the transformation! A nice littlebig tablet PC all ready for toting around and writing or drawing. While I am admittedly a faster typist than I am a writer, the writing functionality (especially with Vista), is very smooth and satisfying. A bit of an example, with some intentionally sloppy handwriting:

It's not perfectly accurate at first, but you can edit exactly what you're writing and it will adapt over time to your various quirks. Using made-up words is slightly more challenging, so the handwriting recognition is mainly for more formal purposes rather than typing out messages to friends. There's all kinds of great applications for this too, such as writing directly on sheet music. Even used with Sibelius, there's a certain satisfying feeling in "writing" in the notes onto the staff rather than lots of clicking.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the laptop from both an aesthetic and performance standpoints. The thing is very fast with its 2GHz dual-core and 2GB of RAM, rivaling my desktop PC in certain tasks. The graphics card isn't the hottest thing out there, but it can run Hellgate London on Medium settings just fine which is good enough for me. The more hardcore PC gaming will have to take a back seat, but considering that my game queue is obscenely high already, I can deal. Oh yeah, and the M-Audio FireWire 410 works like a charm. Bet you didn't think I'd mention that did you? It sounds beautiful, looks great, and was a snap to set up. Now I just need a 7.1 speaker setup to use its full potential! Hah.

Into the Earth | Into the Sky

For the past month or so I have been collaborating with a local choreographer Karen Brown and her co-run dance company Weaving Dance on writing the music for an upcoming performance - just one week away! I've been working very hard on this, trying new things and experimenting, all with a rather limited schedule due to full-time work. I think it has come together extremely well, especially having visited a rehearsal yesterday to observe how it all tied together with the dance.

The piece finds its origins in the theme of the concert it is being performed in, titled "Rooted". Similar to the piece I wrote last year, Observations of Nature, it deals with reflecting on the non-human aspects of the world (in this case, trees) and how we relate to them in our daily lives.

The dance, prior to the music existing, began when Karen came across a photography collection of trees in various seasons, some of which highlighted with a thin fabric background or foreground. It used the lighting of the day and silhouettes of trees to create a very interesting look at the subject.

The idea of using fabric and silhouettes gave Karen the idea to incorporate similar elements into her piece, utilizing a parachute and her dancers in various tree-like shapes either in front or behind it. The idea of people-as-trees continued on into various other elements of the dance, with various solos as an introspective look at individuals' reflections.

With the music, I attempted to capture similar elements with a limited instrumentation and attention to the narrative subtext. I had previously written a series of pieces based on trees for my Junior Recital in college (Dreamer's Path), using a combination of live players, songs and recorded sounds to create an atmospheric and dream-like experience. With approaching this accompaniment, I wanted to firmly ground the music in reality.

For this new perspective, I drifted away from my usual emphasis on orchestral and synth-based instrumentation and to something more akin to a current alt. rock band. Using sample-based instruments, I attempted to create something of a mini-concept-album with recurring thematic elements and a constant set of 'players'.

If you're in the Seattle area, I highly recommend you come check out the final result. The choreographer and dancers have worked extremely hard on pulling this thing off and I have nothing but respect for their efforts. They really are the stars in this production, so hats off to them! All necessary information and tickets can be found on their website.

If you're not in the area, feel free to check out the music below. I also have each 'track' labeled. On my website I'll be releasing it as separate mp3s, but it really is a through-composed piece and is best listened to in one sitting. The total runtime is 16:11.

Into the Earth
Into the Sky

• Rooted (0:00 - 2:44)
• Cherry Blossom (2:44 - 6:17)
• Willow in Sway (6:17 - 7:50)
• Autumn Rain (7:50 - 12:22)
• Frigid Ascent (12:22 - 16:11)

Screw Formality

I don't think I can keep a regular schedule with this, so instead I'm going to just be updating it when I can and without some convoluted format. The new format is, while not exclusive to the three topics I initially set up, still following them primarily. In other words, it won't be anything drastically different, just  without the expectations involved with a weekly three-pronged endeavor.

To those reading this on FauxSheezy, hi! Sbob coerced me into cross-posting onto their neat little community blog, so I'm obliging.

So, Portal. I'm going to just be rather blunt and say that it's already infiltrated my top five games of all time. Something I would never have imagined a 3 hour game to do. But sometimes a game just comes along that totally upends the metaphorical coffee table of convention so hard that you begin to reconsider the gaming experience.

Let's get some questions out of the way: Do we need 60-70 hour long epic adventures to create a masterwork of a game from a storyline's point of view? No. Is it necessary to have tons of main characters with predictable flaws and an inevitable death of a female to keep interest in plot development? Nope. Does the entire world, every nuance, every bit of symbolism need to be explored in all its facets to wring the last drop of satisfaction out of a mythos? Nada. Lastly, must a game take itself serious to not only have interesting dialogue but also a satisfying story thread? Hell no.

The setup for Portal is simple. You're a test subject being spoken to by a computer and put through cleverly paced tutorials in order to be prepared for the meat of the adventure. My sheer transparency of its mechanics, the fact that it is very clearly a puzzle game even to you as the in-game protagonist, creates a scenario that plays out exceedingly well in how it develops.

What we're beginning to see in gaming is the emergence of what is the "short story" in the literary world. The goal of a short story isn't to immerse yourself in a fully realized world and ongoing strife, but rather to present a transformation.  Between the beginning and the end, something happens. Something changes. The art of the craft is presenting it in a convincing, natural, and ultimately satisfying way.

Portal nails this, through its masterful use of a singular narrative voice, its interactions, and its conclusion: something simply too awesome to mention, for fear that all would be spoiled once  a hapless reader comes across its discussion here.

Other games have also nailed this for me. ICO is one of mention, and uses even less dialogue to convey its messages. The atmosphere is closed, confined, even uses puzzles as its primary gameplay mechanic, and despite its wordless nature still emanates an emotionally stirring experience. It does things in a much more introverted nature than Portal's all-out hilarity, but the same guts are still there. The characters undergo a transformation, and you can't help but be pulled along.

In a somewhat related games-as-art perspective, another game occupying my time has been Everyday Shooter: something that takes yet another art's medium and shows how it can be made into an interactive format. In this game's case, the art is the music album.

In 2002 (2001 in Japan), the world (or at least those that paid attention to the game) was shook by the release of Rez, a game that was one of the first successful attempts at melding music and gameplay together into a complete package. While the game's soundtrack was primarily trance music, the experience was certainly one that hadn't been successfully duplicated since.

Saying this may be blasphemous to Rez fans, but I think that Everyday Shooter pulls it off even better. As great an experience Rez was, I believe it was limited by its overall goal. An immersive saturation of the senses, for a fledgling project, couldn't push difficulty or create an overly complex structure. Such a first impression might lead people to believe that the medium had no value beyond the game mechanics due to the difficulty hindering the enjoyment of said experience.

In that way, Everyday Shooter has a lot to be thankful for in the simple fact that it came later. The game is damned challenging, yet the failures don't begin to occur until an ample flavor of what's to come has seeped into the experiential taste buds. Because of this, the game not only succeeds as interactive art, but as an excellently-designed game.

There's much more to ramble about, but I'll save the suspense of waiting for a new blog post and lend a few two(ish)-liners about recent happenings:

• Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions is an excellent update to one of my favorite games of all time, leaving the awesome sauce intact and bolstering its weaknesses (namely, its translation and cutscenes). The new dialogue is leagues above the original (on par with other Ivalice titles such as Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII), and the new cutscenes not only have amazing art direction but solid voice acting to boot.
• The soundtrack to FFVII: Crisis Core surprised me in several ways: Takeharu Ishimoto (formerly of my It's a Wonderful World OST hatred) can actually write beautiful music, he is an extremely talented writer of chamber music (the string quartet pieces in CC are excellent), and can play one metal guitar. Additionally, Kazuhiko Toyama provides some beautiful orchestrations. Lesson learned: Keep Ishimoto away from techno and synths, and he can do no wrong.
• Radiohead's new (and amusingly controversial) album, In Rainbows, blows my mind. It's always amazing to me how simplicity can be such a useful ally to a band that constantly evolves with each new song. Also, I paid £1 for it. Experimental!

My final word of the day is: Website revamp! It's been a long time in the working, and I'm extremely glad to push it live. The only issue so far is that it does not comply with Internet Explorer's shoddy handling of CSS. If anyone could give me some pointers on how to make it work for that abortion of a browser, I'd be much obliged. For now, however, it works perfectly on Firefox, Opera and Safari. If you're still using IE, do yourself a favor and make the switch. Oh, and I will be changing the blog's layout soon to comply with the new design. There shall be more horizontal room! It's about time. This column was getting claustrophobic.

Tangential Tendencies

TGS Rundown Part 1

Another year gone by, the Tokyo Game Show has come and gone with its series of announcements, surprises, and disappointments. I'll do my best to rundown all my impressions, albeit through relayed media and others' impressions.

White Knight Story - This is definitely a game that I fell for the moment I watched its initial unveiling back at last year's E3. Since then, we've been peppered with various pieces of beautiful concept art, a full-length story trailer, and the promise that the game would be playable at TGS. The game was fully unveiled this year, and I could not be more excited about it. The battle system plays out in what seems like a fusion of FFXII's free-roaming fields and battles, but instead of a delay-based MMO-style combat, the game takes elements of PSO's real time combos and infuses them with Radiata Stories' customization. Additionally, it never fails to amuse me that the game features a character creation system that rivals just about any MMO out there. How the game's online elements come into play is one more piece of the puzzle that has yet to be unveiled, and something that I'm anxiously anticipating.

Metal Gear Solid 4 + MGO - There's honestly not much to be said that hasn't already been discussed at length, especially on this week's 1UP Show and 1UP Yours. Both games have an intense buzz that gets me really excited, since I've always been a fan of MGS... despite never beating any of them due to my sheer lack of skill playing them. I really aught to go back and take another stab at them before 4 comes out next year.

Valkyrie of the Battlefield - This game came out of nowhere for me, and like WKS became an instant interest once I saw its unveiling trailer and several gameplay videos. The visuals are just stunning, and almost remind me of the tech utilized for the flop Unlimited SaGa's CG cutscenes, yet in full real time goodness. One thing that gets me even more excited is that the game is being developed by the charred remnants of SEGA's Overworks team, the talented folks that put together Skies of Arcadia for the Dreamcast. And joining the cast is also Hitoshi Sakimoto for what seems to be his umpteenth score this year. There's huge evidence of the guy spreading himself a bit thin, considering that one of the in-game tracks sounds nearly identical to a piece in FFXII... But even still, I look forward to his efforts for this game. It just disappoints me a bit when he isn't putting a full unique spin on each project.

In Part 2, which I'll hopefully write up later this week, I'll reflect on more of the TGS games and media... As well as give some reports on other music I've been listening to as well as writing.