New Boss Rush Album at 16 Dimensional Records!

I have to mention them again! Anytime I need something new to listen to, I check out the 16 Dimensional Records Site. It's a site dedicated to preserving the art of chiptune and electronic music composition, and it's amazing! The site contains imaginary soundtracks and music from homebrew games, original music and it's all geared toward the chip music lover. All the talented individuals there have made their music available for free as well. I encourage all game music fans to head over there and check out the music, these guys need more exposure. The latest album is called ExHale~Boss Rush, and it's a collaborative effort by Takahiro Kato and Gaii. It's a fantastic combination old chiptunes and all out electronic weirdness! Here is your ticket to old style game music greatness!

16 Dimensional Records

Now, I've been working a lot, and I'm sorry for the long absence but...


It's great to be back! I'm happy it's December, the Winter season is my favorite time of year. Lots of cool things are going on in the Game Music world. Did you see all those X Box Soundtracks getting legitimate releases in retail stores? The packaging might need a little more work, but when I walked into a Fry's Electronics store and saw a real Blue Dragon English OST, I just couldn't believe it. Sure, the Music 4 Games newsletter mentioned that release long ago, but there was just something about seeing it there with my own eyes. The price was only $13.99. No added importing fees, and no extra charges for secure shipping. There is great potential there, I hope they keep it up! Thanks to Sumthing Else Music Works for making it happen, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they continue on. Who knows, we could get more older or previously unreleased soundtracks out of this.

You can check out what they have available here:

Sumthing Distribution

I have lots more to chat about, but I'll leave that for tomorrow.

BEST OF YS MUSIC CONTINUES...

Hello all! I continued my Best of Ys music playlist on Youtube. It's up to part 9 right now, with "To Make the End of Battle" from Ys II:

When you haven't heard it in a while...

I started listening to the Final Fantasy X Soundtrack again, after literally years without doing so. I'm a big fan of FF X, and when I first got the soundtrack and finished the game, I listened to the music constantly! That kind of wore it out for me, but one thing I do when I don't have anything new to listen to, is check out something older I haven't heard in a while.

Wow! I had forgotten how much I loved this music, and now I regret not taking it to the Distant Worlds concert with me in March to get the OST autographed! Now it seems like it's brand new again, and wonderful memories have come flooding back into my mind.

Once piece in particular I would like to give a special mention to is "Illusion". I listened to it so much a few years ago, it literally ended up becoming sort of a theme for me when I would take a walk somewhere. Then I forgot about it. Most every RPG has a Wintery theme, but this one really struck a chord with me, even more than "Buried in the Snow" from FF VII. I got chills upon hearing it again.



I remember cool, foggy mornings filled with light drizzle and mist, wet roads, and dodging new puddles created by the rain. I find it hard to believe that I could have forgotten such a wonderful piece of music that I had really gotten attached to!

Now it's fresh in my mind again, and Winter is coming up just around the corner, and I look forward to attaching new memories around this wonderful music.

Sorcerian Megadrive Album out soon!

Today it is very rare for music from a an old game to get a new release like this, and this is one album to look out for! The Sorcerian Megadrive album is available for pre-order at Play-Asia right now! Due out on October 10/29/2008 (10/31 at Play-Asia), it's sure to be one of the best soundtrack releases this year! If you have ever played any version of Sorcerian, you know it has awesome music.



Containing two discs with 43 tracks, it's truly a can't miss album for Falcom fans. Beware, the price of $39.90 USD is a little steep at Play-Asia, but since Falcom is not releasing this album, it may not be available at CocoeBiz.

If you would like to know more about Sorcerian, I recommend checking out the hardcore gaming articles on it:

Hardcore Gaming: Sorcerian

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia news:

In Castlevania news, the Order of Ecclesia soundtrack will be sold from Cocoebiz in a special bundle with the DS game (in Japanese). They are selling it from the Konami Style shop. Quantities will be limited, and the pre-order has not opened as of yet. I'm expecting the price to be in the $40-$50 range, maybe even higher. I'll update again when it's available to order, so for now the release date is October 23rd.

I don't know if this is the same type of promotion Konami did for the Contra DS soundtrack, where the OST was only available with the game bundle. That seems unlikely since this is a Castlevania game, but you never know.

Moore soon!

Thanks for 11,000 HIts!!

Here's my "Scooby-Doo meets Adol Christin" piece as a thank you for visiting my page! It has never been seen outside a couple forums, but it's now on my art gallery page.
Is that really a 1970's Adol? It couldn't happen any other way :)
Thanks again, I'm waiting for my Megaman 9 soundtrack to arrive and I'll have my review of it up when it gets here.

Profile: Mercer Friendly

Mercer Friendly is a NYC based duo who were commissioned to do music and sound design for the Wii game, "Groovin' Blocks".



Music from the game is available for purchase!

Let me start right off and say the soundtrack for this game is really awesome! Entitled Jetpak: Music For Groovin' Blocks, it's outstanding and breathes new life into the "old school chip-tune" style of game music that we don't get to hear too much in video games anymore. Think, "Splash Lake with a lot more depth," and you'll know what I'm talking about. The Jetpak album, containing 6 wonderful electronically charged songs, is available to purchase from the Mercer Friendly website and is also available from Amazon.com.

I have been allowed to share the official press release from Mercer Friendly:

September 13th, 2008 (NY, NY) -- Mercer Friendly is releasing their debut album featuring music from Groovin' Blocks. "Groovin' Blocks, is a music-based game like no other. It adds innovative musical gameplay to an addictive action/puzzle game. The game features 27 different stages for everyone, from casual to hardcore. It also includes 15 levels of unlockable bonuses, cooperative play and a head-to-head mode."

The album, JETPAK, drops today on http://mercerfriendly.com and Sept. 15th via Amazon.com.







For more on Mercer Friendly, please visit:

Mercerfriendly.com

and
Mercer Friendly's Myspace

Congratualtions on your great debut album, Mercer Friendly, and best of luck for the future!

P.S. The album really is great, drop by and get it, you won't regret it!

New Final Fantasy Distant Worlds Concert Dates Announced!

Two more shows have been announced in the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert tour!

1. October 8th, 2008 -

Denver, Colorado at 7:30pm in the Boettcher Concert Hall
For tickets, call (303) 623-7876 and on sale online September 8, 2008. *NOTE: THE OFFICIAL SITE DOES NOT LIST MR. UEMATSU AS A GUEST FOR THIS SHOW* Conducting again will be Mr. Arnie Roth.

2. April 14th, 2009 -


Grand Rapids, Michigan at 7:30pm in the DeVos Performance Hall
For tickets, call (616) 454-9451, Ext. 4. They have been on sale now online since September 3, 2008.

*MR. UEMATSU IS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR IN GRAND RAPIDS, WITH A MEET SESSION AFTER THE CONCERT.*
If you would like to meet Mr. Uematsu, this is your chance. Take it from me, paying the extra price for the ticket is so worth it, you won't regret it!

More information at the Distant Worlds site:

Official Distant Worlds Site

See you next time!

Drawing Heavy Metal Megaman

I needed an excuse to make a video featuring more of Dangerous Mezashi Cat's awesome Megalomania Megaman rock CD, so I threw this together. The armor was mostly improvised in the video, but I had some idea of the look I was going for prior to drawing it. Hope you enjoy the video!

Megaman 9 Soundtrack/ Arrange Album Release Dates

According to CD Japan, the Megaman 9 soundtrack will be released on 9/12, and a Megaman 9 arrange album the following month, on 10/10. I was hoping they would immediately release the music on CD, instead of having to wait a long time like the original MM 1-6 NES music. I expect pre-orders to begin at CocoeBiz soon too, but for now I'll post the CD Japan link. Cool!

Pre-order link for Megaman 9 OST at CD Japan

More soon, but in the meantime here's some new art:

Megaman and Superman team up!

RIZ-ZOAWD Looks Promising...

It looks like a fantastic game, doesn't it? Many sites have screen shots, but only a few name the composers for this game, and I wanted to spread the word. It's Hitoshi Sakimoto and Michiko Naruke! I went to the official site and listened to the music there, and got really excited. I hope it comes out in English. There are trailers on youtube, but the official site is really neat. I am looking forward to seeing more!

Visit the Official RIZ-ZOAWD site!

Legend of Xanadu playthrough video Progress:

I've been working on the Legend of Xanadu Video Playthrough series for my youtube channel, and will post parts 23 & 24 soon. As I'm playing through, I am enhancing the Legend of Xanadu help page with all new hints, chronological orders of events and sample videos to help with some of the difficult puzzles in the game. When complete, the game will be much easier for those who would like to play it, but don't know Japanese.

*If you had tickets for the August 23rd Play! concert that was canceled, and your tickets were being held for will call:

I called the box office regarding my refund on August 8th, and noticed no action was taken yet as of today. So I called again today and was informed that they will have all refunds processed within five days. I hope that information will be useful to you.

THANKS FOR 10,000 HITS!!

Thanks to those who visit my page! I will post the traditional drawing soon. I just have to finish it... If you look at the site counter at the bottom of this page, you'll see I changed the Megaman up with a new drawing which was just completed today. In the links section I added links to the CocoeBiz Youtube Channel as well as my own.

See you next time!

Play! concert scheduled for August 23rd in San Francisco canceled

I was planning on attending this show, and even bought a ticket, however I checked the Play! site yesterday and noticed the August 23rd concert date was missing from their upcoming shows list. I figured it might have been re-scheduled or canceled, then I got an e-mail from the box office:

"Dear Patron,

Thank you for your recent ticket purchase for PLAY! A VIDEO GAME SYMPHONY. Unfortunately this event has been canceled. The presenters of this event have promised to reschedule for a date most likely in 2009.

Please return your tickets for a refund to the address below.

City Box Office
180 Redwood Street, Suite 100
San Francisco, CA 94102

Attn: Refunds

If your tickets are being held for will call you will be automatically refunded and need to take no action.

Please keep an eye out for the rescheduled date. We are sorry for the news of the cancellation.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding this email."

City Box Office

(415) 392-4400

Lauren A. McQuade
General Manager
CITY BOX OFFICE
(415)392-4400

Believe me, as a veteran of game music concerts, this means when the show does happen it will be incredible! If I get any updates I'll let you know.

More Legend of Xanadu Gameplay

This is my favorite scene from area 1. You have to rescue some villagers inside this cave. The music is awesome, especially if you like old PC Engine PSG music.

Cocoebiz youtube channel!

Fantastic news! Cocoebiz has just begun a youtube channel! Here is the link:

Cocoebiz youtube channel

NiGHTS Perfect Album back in stock at Cocoebiz!

Great to see they restocked it, you can click the link below to take you to it:

NiGHTS Perfect Album at Cocoebiz

Current Events

I just moved to a new apartment, ran my fifth Peachtree Road Race on July 4th (will have pictures soon) and completed Ys DS! Now it looks like the Play! Symphony tour is really starting to gain steam again. I hope it never ends.

I'm continuing to develop the Cap'n Crunch comic, and hopefully I can launch it very soon. It's going to be a blast!

Here's a new Wolverine vs. Hulk drawing. You can click to enlarge it.

Legend of Xanadu video playthrough begins...

I searched for a way to record the first Legend of Xanadu game for a while after it didn't seem to work with FRAPS. The funny thing is, Legend of Xanadu II works just fine with FRAPS. Anyway, hypercam 2 works great for LoX 1, so now I can share the awesomeness of that game as well! Above is the opening menu screen from this often overlooked Falcom masterpiece.

The opening movie is now available to watch:
Part 1


Part 2

NiGHTS PERFECT ALBUM PROFILED

A BIG Thank You to Cocoebiz for helping me get a NiGHTS Perfect Album. That's the last time I wait even just a little to get a soundtrack release like this. Ebay seller champ_des_pins has them for sale also, so if someone else out there is looking for one, check there, I have a link at the bottom. It's unfortunate this album had such a low print run. I don't see why someone else hasn't picked up the publishing rights from Wave Master.

I can finally attest that this is the NiGHTS soundtrack release that everyone has wanted, and it should have been made long ago.

As an owner of the original NiGHTS one disc soundtrack (see photo below) I already knew there were plenty of missing tracks, but what I didn't expect to see for the Perfect Album were greatly extended tracks. I'm not talking about just longer track times, but most of the BGM for the stages have MUCH MORE extra music, and further elaborate on the loveable themes we're all familiar with.


The Orginal NiGHTS Soundtrack contianed only 24 tracks

The extended background music is presented on the NiGHTS Perfect Album as "Complete Versions". Whether or not these were originally intended to be in the game is something I am unsure of, but adding them here was an excellent choice, and I'm certainly glad they were included!

The NiGHTS into Dreams Perfect Album


The Perfect Album contains two discs covering the original NiGHTS into Dreams soundtrack, with a third disc covering the music for Christmas NiGHTS, the special Christmas edition of the game. All the missing tracks are finally present here, as far as I can tell, and if you're a fan of NiGHTS like me, you won't be disappointed with this edition of the beautiful soundtrack. I give this album a perfect 10, it is everything I hoped for and more.

NiGHTS into Dreams

Composers
Tomoko Sasaki, Naofumi Hataya, Fumie Kumatani, Tatsuya Kozaki

Arrangers
Hayato Matsuo, Tomoko Sasaki, Naofumi Hataya, Fumie Kumatani

Performers
Curtis King, Jr., Cameron Earl Strother, Jasmine Allen , Marlon D. Sanders, Gabriel Morris, Issa Clemon

Disc One



01 Dreams Dreams
02 Sonic Team 1996
03 Fragmented Nights
04 Dreaming Youngsters : Claris Ver.
05 Gate of Your Dream
06 Introduced Dream
07 Paternal Horn : Complete Ver.
08 Acrobat Time
09 The Dragon Gave a Loud Scream
10 After The Dream
11 Dreaming Youngsters : Elliot Ver.
12 The Amazing Water : Complete Ver.
13 Time Up
14 Pia Over
15 She Had Long Ears
16 Mare Over
17 Gloom of The N.H.C. : Complete Ver.
18 Deep It Lies 2:05
19 Message From Nightopia
20 Take The Snow Train : Complete Ver.
21 E-LE-KI Sparkle
22 Dreams Dreams : In Silent Memory

Disc 2



01 NiGHTS
02 Suburban Museum : Complete Ver.
03 The Mantle
04 Under Construction : Complete Ver.
05 NiGHTS and Reala
06 NiGHTS and Reala : Theme of a Tragedic Revenge
07 Growing Wings
08 D'Force Master
09 Peaceful Moment
10 On to The Audition
11 Score The Goal!
12 NiGHTS, Forever in Our Heart
13 Sowing Seeds
14 Dreams Dreams : Kids Ver.
15 Fragmented Nights : Epilogue Ver.
BONUS TRACKS
16 Know Thyself
17 Dreams Dreams (Instrumental)

Disc 3 (Christmas NiGHTS)



01 Missing Star
02 Welcome to Christmas NiGHTS
03 Introduced Dream
04 Dream Bells
05 The Dragon Gave a Loud Scream : In Holy Night
06 Twinkle Star
07 Dreams Dreams : A-Cappella Ver.
08 Winter Sleep 0:57
09 Jack Frost's Chime : Complete Ver.
10 New Year's "9TH"
11 Rolling Eggman
12 Dreams Dreams : Sweet Mix in Holy Night
BONUS TRACK
13 Dreams Dreams : Nightopian Ver.

Champ_des_pins ebay Auction

The Legend of Xanadu Help Page updated!

Whew! I went through a time without the computer for a bit, and wasn't able to update. Today I am pleased to announce that the Legend of Xanadu help page has been updated with instructions for completing the remaining areas of the game! The only exception is the final dungeon tower, which I will provide maps for on a future update. The tower can be completed without a walkthrough, but the maps will be a big help. There are still some punctuation errors that will be corrected soon, in the meantime you can find a link to the help page in the links section.

The amazing Cocoebiz has helped me to obtain some incredible items! I can't wait for them to arrive and report on them!

See you next time.

Nights Perfect Album Sold Out Everywhere!l

Sheesh! I held off on buying a Nights Perfect Album and now I can't find one anywhere!
I've learned my lesson now. Another fast seller was the Phantasy First series soundtrack set. Another one I didn't get... UGGGH!! Hopefully they will be restocked at the game music sites soon. If not, it may be Yahoo Japan time for me.

I updated the art gallery with a brand new drawing of Megaman with Rush Jet, which I will also post here:


If you've been checking out the official site for Play! A Video Game Symphony, they announced some exciting news. A CD and DVD will be made of the recent concert performance in Prague! I can't wait. I will still attend the live shows, but I have been dying for Play! to release a concert recording. It's going to be great! Plus, tickets are on sale now for another Play! concert on July 18th, in Baltimore, MD!
Please check the link to Play! in the links section if you would like to read more aobut it.

See you next time!

Akira Yamaoka returns to Silent Hill

Silent Hill: Homecoming, the first Silent Hill for Next Generation consoles will be released for the XBox 360 and PS3 later this year, and will once again feature music by Mr. Akira Yamaoka. It's nice to see him still involved in the series after all this time, I hope he continues for many years to come!

Source: Music 4 Games

THANK YOU FOR 8,000 HITS!!

First, thanks to all who've visited this page,making it to 8,000 hits since I put the counter up. Sorry I didn't update for a while...
I wasn't feeling well over the last week, some terrible stomach virus had really gotten me. Aside from work, I didn't do much of anything. No games, no drawing, nothing but get better and listen to game music. The good thing is, I got over it and will get back to regular posting here. With the upcoming release of the Iron Man movie, I did this drawing to thank you all for checking out this page and just for fun, to see what Megaman might look like if he got a design tweak from Mr. Tony Stark. Hope you enjoy!

NEW OVER HORIZON MEDLEY AT OPUS - XERO

If you've ever had the pleasure of hearing the soundtrack to the classic NES/Famicom shooter Over Horizon, you know how awesome it is.
Youtube user Nintega has a nice gameplay video of Over Horizon:


At the Opus-Xero site, moAbi has created an awesome 12 minute rock medley arranging tunes from Over Horizon! You can find it in the music section at Opus-Xero.com. It's in the middle column at the bottom.
There is a link below, and also a permanent link to Opus-Xero in the links section.
Enjoy!

Opus-Xero.com

The Game Music Concert Magic Spreads...

Up at Music 4 Games right now is a great writeup on "The Music of Video Games", performed by the Austin Wind Symphony. Even lesser known orchestras are getting into performing game music! I highly recommend checking out the article:

Music For Games

More Soon

Black Mages III Review

I got the CD yesterday, and have listened to the whole thing at least four times. I think it's pretty awseome! I like this one slightly better than Black Mages 2.
I give it an 8.5 out of 10, but there are some things I would like to see done differently. On some songs I can't comment much, I just love them. I don't write a lot of reviews, but being such a big fan of the Black Mages' first two albums, I really wanted to do a review for this one.

1. Bombing Mission (FF VII)

This is a little toned down from what I was expecting from the opening track, but it still has a nice covert feel to it. I have listened to this track a lot, and I would like to hear it faster with more guitar, though I don't have a problem with the synth. Compared to the other tracks on the album, I think this one could be more unleashed.

2. Neo EXDEATH (FF V)

One of my favorites on the album, I think there is a great balance of guitar and keyboard.

3. The Extreme (FF VIII)

This is a great version, it gets really fast and that's what I was hoping for. The drums and a few other additions make this sound a lot more battle oriented than the original in my opinion, and I love the way it ends!

4. Assault of the Silver Dragons (FF IX)

Being a big FF IX fan, I hoped this would be good, and I'm not disappointed at all, this might be my favorite track on the CD! It's really inspiring. This morning I was running home from work listening to it, even though I had my bicycle.

5. KURAYAMINOKUMO (FF III)

If you bought the FF III DS soundtrack , then you have already heard this, as it was a bonus track on that CD.
I'm glad they included it here, since others might not have gotten to hear it. This is another one of my favorites on the album.

6. Distant Worlds (FF XI)

A great rendition! It's calm and atmospheric. I need fast music most of the time, so I haven't listened to this song as often as the others, but it's still pretty cool.


7. Premonition (FF VIII)

This is awesome! I get the same uneasy feeling as when I hear the original.

8. Grand Cross (FF IX)

Sounds very similar to the game version, especially at the beginning, but the added arrangement really livens it up for me.

9. Darkness and Starlight (FF VI)

The FF VI Opera Scene!
This is the one I would really love to see done differently. I can't say it's a bad musical performance, but it just feels interrupted and out of place compared to the rest of the CD, and the narration is not necessary. The FF VI music arranged this way is still fun to listen to, but I don't feel like listening to this as often as the other songs.

The opera singers here are pretty good, but for the female part I think Sarah Brightman could do an awesome job with this song.

If you are familiar with the FF III arranged CD that has narration, (Legend of Eternal Wind) this would be cool for a FF VI CD like that.

10. LIFE ~ in memory of Keiten ~

Nice piano piece to close out the CD.

I think they did an excellent job overall, I am really enjoying it! I hope I can get this CD autographed one day.

New soundtrack arrivals!!

Just got these yesterday, and I can't wait to write about them!
Black Mages III, Nights: Journey of Dreams, Final Fantasy IV DS Soundtrack, and Final Fantasy Tactics A2.

My Final Fantasy Distant Worlds Experience...

What a wonderful night Saturday, March 1st was! At the fantastic Rosemont Theatre in Chicago, the magic happened again. Not only did Play! A Video Game Symphony kick off there in 2006, but Final Fantasy concerts have been held there before, during the Dear Friends tour. It's safe to say that the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra has some great experience performing game music.

It was great to return there again for another special night, the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds North American Premiere. As many of you know, this new tour, celebrating the twenty year history of this beloved RPG franchise, got it's start on December 4th, 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm has become quite a hot spot for great game music concerts in it's own right now, too. The Distant Worlds tour will continue on to Seoul, South Korea in April 2008, and plans for Australia and New Zealand in 2009 have been announced. So how was the concert? AWESOME!

There was snow a couple days before March 1st in Chicago, and it was cold! Most of the snow lingered on. I thought it was a great atmosphere for the show.


THE CONCERT

Arnie Roth conducted again, and I was glad to see him do it. Not many conductors are as familiar with game music, or Final Fantasy music in that matter, as he has become.
After a brief introduction from Arnie Roth, the fans cheered as Mr. Nobuo Uematsu entered the audience, and sat with two of his assistants from Square Enix. Mr. Roth made some great announcements during the concert: The third Black Mages Album has been completed, and the Famous Opera Scene from Final Fantasy VI would be a part of it! I can't wait to hear that CD! Mr. Roth stated that the Distant Worlds Tour would be featuring FF music not not often played at other FF concerts. He also indicated that much more footage from the games would now be a part of the tour, and he was right. It was great!

NOTE: Some of the songs may be out of order.

1. Liberi Fatali (Final Fantasy VIII)
This is a real favorite, it was a great performance of the opening theme from FF VIII. I was once listening to this while riding my bicycle, and I crashed from riding too fast! It's a real intense piece.

2. To Zanarkand (Final Fantasy X)
Great! This is the opening theme for FF X. I still don't know why this game gets a lot of criticism. I loved it!

3. Final Fantasy Main Theme (FF Series)
For the most part, it's in every FF game, it's timeless, a trademark.

4. Don't Be Afraid (Final Fantasy VIII)
The FF VIII Battle Theme! The game footage showed an actual battle encounter to go along right with the music.

5. Theme of Aeris (Final Fantasy VII)
Sure, I've heard it live many times, it's still great to hear, though. Everyone loves it.

6. Final Fantasy I-III Medley
If you've heard some of the various FF concert albums out there, this is pretty much the same medley. One thing I like about it is that there is a lot of emphasis on FF II.

7. Vamo' alla Flamenco (Final Fantasy IX)
A guest guitarist was brought out for this piece, and he did an amazing job. I think it was largely extended from previous live versions, and was by far the best version of it I've ever heard.

8. Dear Friends (Final Fantasy V)
The guest guitarist did another awesome job with this piece, the ending for FF V.

9. Love Grows (Final Fantasy VIII)
Basically, it's the instrumental version of "Eyes on Me", the vocal theme from FF VIII. I kept going through the lyrics in my head as I listened.

Intermission
Now more of the new and rare pieces would be performed!

10. Opening ~ Bombing Mission (Final Fantasy VII
The only other time I've heard this live was at the More Friends FF Concert back in '05, and they did an excellent job with it. I love this piece, it went right along with the FF VII opening footage they showed.

11. Fisherman's Horizon (Final Fantasy VIII)
First time hearing this live! Really cool! The choir was great.

12. Swing de Chocobo (Final Fantasy X)
Arranged by Arnie Roth personally from the FF X version of the Chocobo Theme.
It's become so recognizable over the years.

13. Theme of Love (Final Fantasy IV)
This was a classic from FF IV, and it was the first time I've seen the cinemas from FF IV DS. AMAZING!!

14. Memoro de las Stono ~ Distant Worlds (Final Fantasy XI
Another piece that was a first for me to hear live. This wasn't just part of the opening from FF XI, this was, I think one of the best performances of the show. The choir was incredible, and lyrics were added, performed by a great female vocalist with a gorgeous voice (I can't remember her name for the life of me).

15. Opera "Maria and Draco" (Final Fantasy VI)
This was the main reason I attended the More Friends Concert, and I was getting to hear it again! FF VI is my favorite FF game! I almost think this was better than the More Friends performance. The opera singers definitely had the emotions and expressions right for the piece. So rare to see this performed live, and such a treat!

16. Terra's Theme (Final Fantasy VI)
The "final" piece for the evening, this was fantastic. It was made special by the way they tied the game footage into it. The 16 bit footage from the FF VI opening was shown, and where the game normally listed creator credits, they changed it to show the credits for the concert. It must have been cool for Arnie Roth to see his name up on the screen while Terra walked in the snow with her companions wearing the Magitek Armor.

After a standing ovation, of course there had to be an encore:

17. One Winged Angel (Final Fantasy VII)
It's to be expected at an FF show. Everyone always goes nuts for it.

More standing ovations followed, and Mr. Uematsu appeared on stage with Mr. Arnie Roth and bowed to everyone. An awesome evening, the concert was almost 2 1/2 hours, and I was so looking forward to meeting Mr. Uematsu again!

The meet and greet followed for those who were lucky, and paid $150.00 for a ticket. The line was long, but I must thank Mr. Uematsu, Mr. Roth and AWR productions for one of the best meeting sessions I've ever been to. I didn't see anyone being rushed, and everyone got a great moment to thank Nobuo Uematsu for his music (you can see my photos to the right in my photo gallery). Thank you all for your patience meeting all the fans. I must also thank the staff of the Rosemont Theatre for their help taking photos and for their comments on my artwork. Both times I've been there, you guys have seriously been the best staff at any concert I've ever attended.


The Rosemont Theatre the night of the show


Fans gathered outside ready for showtime. Mr. Uematsu made an early appearance and waved to the fans from inside.


Some of the merchandise on sale. Also available were autographed posters.


The line for the meet and greet was long!


The orchestra preparing to get started.

Autographs
I was lucky once again to get a number of items signed, including my drawing of Mr. Uematsu as a Black Mage! (see photo at right)


Blue Dragon OST and FF VII Piano Collections (Digicube)


Final Fantasy I & II PS1 OST and FF IV Celtic Moon


FF III NES/FC OST


FF Songbook Mahoroba and FF Symphonic Suite


Phantasmagoria


FF Tactics Advance OST: I got it signed once by Mr. Hitoshi Sakimoto at Play! in Detroit, and I brought it to this concert for Mr. Uematsu to autograph. I was extremely luck to get both discs and the liner notes signed by the two of them. Mr. Uematsu noticed Sakimoto's signature and he said "Oh, Sakimoto-San, he's my friend".
He also made another comment about working on the FF Tactics OST with Sakimoto that was soooo funny, I'll share it at another time.

Hope you enjoyed this writeup, thanks for reading!

Distant Worlds ROCKED Chicago!

I just got in from the Distant Worlds Final Fantasy Concert, and it was a complete success!! Lots of new gameplay videos and FMVs were added, and even more tracks that hardly ever get played at FF concerts were performed! Everyone had a blast! I have so much cool stuff to share, I can't wait until I get home tomorrow!

ATTENDING FINAL FANTASY DISTANT WORLDS

Hello all! I'm really excited to be attending the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert this weekend. I made a little drawing to celebrate the event. I have printed it, and here's to hoping Mr. Uematsu will autograph it for me! I look forward to reporting on the event when I return. See you then!

Thanks for 7,000 hits!!

Once again, a big thank you to those who visit my page. Here's a couple things I've done in the last few days:

Legend of Xanadu II Boss fight 3! I am making all new, high quality recordings of this great game by Falcom. Enjoy this boss fight video!


A new Megaman drawing, done in more of an anime style:

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL FANTASY DISTANT WORLDS!!

It's about one week away until March 1st, the hype is building! I haven't been to a game concert since Play! in Stockholm last June, and I'm ready! With this post I wanted to give some tips for those attending the show or the meet and greet session with Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth.

1. Arrive at the venue early with your camera.

Trust me, I have seen Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda walking outside a theater before the show started. That will be a good opportunity to meet Mr. Uematsu before the meet and greet. Many people may not even know what Mr. Uematsu looks like.

My photo with Akira Yamaoka below? That was taken before the concert, when he was walking around outside taking pictures of the concert hall. I have a feeling that nobody knew who he was. I thought I may be intruding, but he was extremely nice.
All of the composers I have met have been wonderful. Remember to be respectful if you see a good opportunity.

2. Bring stuff to get autographed.

I have heard many fans who said they should have brought something to get autographed. Remember, it's not every day an opportunity like this comes along. Don't forget anything.
You may hear something like "only one picture or one item to get signed". You'll have to be quick and resourceful, if you want to get a bunch of games or CDs signed, open all of them beforehand. Either the liner notes or the discs themselves. It can be done.
The line will be long for the meet & greet, and no one wants to be there all night.

3. Don't forget your camera!

If you would like a picture with Mr. Uematsu, don't forget your camera, especially if you had to lock it up before the concert.In my experience, cameras are allowed in the meeting sessions, but may not be allowed during the concert. Although with so many camera phones out there, it's a little hard to control that now.
If you don't have a camera, maybe someone in the line will be nice and take a picture for you, and e-mail it afterwards!

One last thing. I am unsure if they will make you turn in your bag, if you bring stuff to get autographed. My tip is to bring those items in something smaller, it will be less likely for someone on staff at the theater to see it and ask you to turn it in. Otherwise, you'll have to run and get it after the show, and there could be a line, and it will delay you getting a good spot in line for the meeting session.

Hope this can be of some help, and I look forward to seeing you all there!

My First Game Music Video

I made my first Game Music Video (GMV) with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children to go along with the killer Hellion Sounds version of Jenova. Hope you like it!

Project Majestic Mix KFSS Studios Farewell

I received the unfortunate e-mail, as I'm sure many of you have, that Project Majestic Mix will cease operating soon. The website will be up for seven more days, and then taken down indefinitely on February 26th. I'd like to thank you all at Majestic Mix/KFSS for all the joy you brought this fan of game music through your wonderful works, and wish you all the best of luck in the future. I hope your plans to return one day will bring you more success than you can handle. Thanks again for the great music and memories!

Nights Perfect Album Announced

This is great! Finally the original Nights soundtrack is getting the release it always deserved, this time in the form of three discs! Cocoebiz is taking pre-orders on the set, which contains two discs for the Original Nights soundtrack, with the third disc devoted to covering music from the limited Christmas Nights game. With the original Nights soundtrack being only one disc when it was released long ago, I think this set will be the Nights soundtrack the fans (myself included) have been wanting. Also, the new Nights for the Wii will has a soundtrack too! Check out some links below:

Cocoebiz

CD Japan Below

Nights: Journey of Dreams Wii soundtrack information

See you next time!

Game Music Collection update

The following soundtracks were added to the list today on this update(1-16-08):

Soldner X: Himmelssturmer OST
Summon Night 1-4
Megaman 7
Megaman 8
Megaman ZX Advent Tunes
Final Fantasy Heavy Metal Guarvail
Growlanser VI
Wild Arms 5 OST part 1
Hudson Premium Audio CD
Extra: Game Music Event CD
Super Hang On 20th Anniversary
Wangan Midnight 3
Yuzo Koshiro Best Collection 2
Etrian Odyssey Super Arrange Verison
Etrian Odyssey OST
Trusty Bell Chopin's Dream
Megaman X Rock (Zero and X verisons : Every Time I bang)
Rock Love Megaman Techno Arrange
R.O.C.K.M.A.N. (Megaman Jazzy Arrange)
Dracula X Chronicles PSP soundtrack

If you would like to visit my collection page, there is a link in the links section. Thanks as always for reading!

DRAWING SAILOR MOON PART 4!

Finally I was able to get this thing up! Hope you enjoy it! The final ink and color took a little longer than expected to finish.

ANOTHER VISIT WITH FAMILY GUY YS...

If you've ever visited my art gallery page, you might have seen Peter Griffin as Adol Christin from the Ys series:


Today I'd like to add a couple more drawings to the Family Guy Ys collection:
"Adol Griffin" and "Brian Dogi" (Click to enlarge):


"Stewie Fact":


Thanks to all who have visited this page! 6,000 visitors is a lot for a game music blog maintained by one person!

Some Random Sketches...

Some random sketches I did today to get warmed up into drawing after the busy Holidays, when I didn't have time to draw. Because of that, December was bittersweet. The good thing is, my pencil burns with drawing energy once again!
It's not often that I would show quick sketches such as these, but maybe someone will enjoy seeing them?

Wolverine


Megaman, here I was going for his slightly older/taller look, like in Megaman 8. I don't draw him in this style very often, it's just not how I like to do it.


This is how I love to draw Megaman! Short but just as strong!

MEGAMAN X ROCKS OUT ON THESE DISCS...

I just got my hands on two new Megaman X arrange CDs and they are fantastic! This is pretty hardcore game music metal here, and the fast heavy style on these discs suits the war torn world of X and Zero perfectly. Created by the band "Kissing the Mirror" out of Japan, both discs consist of favorite tracks from the Megaman X series. On each CD you will find seven tracks, which makes them a little short, but the content is amazing. Both albums are titled "Every Time I Bang", so in a sense they are one album only just split into two: One for X and one for Zero. The release date for both discs is listed as 10-8-07, so it's cool to be able get in on a new work such as this early on.

As a fan of Megaman X almost just as much as the original Megaman series, these albums are a breath of fresh air. Quite frankly, there hasn't been a lot of BGM arrangement work done for the Megaman X series. With Capcom recently releasing a rock and techno CD for Megaman though, that could certainly change. In the meantime, I don't mind relying on the various doujin circles and musicians one bit to get my game arrange fix. That goes especially for these discs, they really are of excellent quality. The styles range from short bits of orchestration to great bursts of speedy guitar and keyboard filled excitement! One other important thing to note is that although some themes on these discs are expanded upon, the band really stays true to the original music. It's inspiring to me to see Megaman X music finally getting the heavy metal treatment it deserves. Well done guys!

It is a shame that doujin CDs like this are so hard to come by. From my experience, some of them are impossible to get unless you know someone in Japan or if you can find them at an auction site somewhere. If you are unaware of ebay seller champ_des_pins, I recommend cheking out his auctions. At any given time he always has an excellent selection of doujin CDs, and he is reliable, and in Japan. That's where I got these discs, and it's very possible he could have some more available soon. Here is a link to his ebay store page:

champ_des_pins ebay store

I have scanned the fronts and backs of both albums as well:
EVERY TIME I BANG-X (FRONT)

EVERY TIME I BANG-X (BACK)


EVERY TIME I BANG-ZERO (FRONT)

EVERY TIME I BANG-ZERO (BACK)
Here is the Kissing the Mirror site, and there you can listen to samples from these great works!

Kissing the Mirror

Just scroll down and click on "Every Time I Bang".

See you next time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It was a busy end of the year for me, but now I'm ready for the new year with lots of cool things in the works. I hope you all have a great new year! I'm working on the final part of my Sailor Moon drawing video, and in the coming days I'll have some CD reviews up and more drawing videos are planned as well. The countdown to the Distant Worlds Final Fantasy concert is ON! I can't wait for it! As for whatever else I've been up to, check below for a quick look at Cap'n Crunch Adventures.

FIRST LOOK: CAP'N CRUNCH ADVENTURES!

Here is a little sneak peak at my upcoming Cap'n Crunch comic, which will be a part of this blog in the coming weeks. This image will serve as the "cover" for the debut of the series. More to come very soon!