Final Fantasy Distant Worlds CD Available at Amazon now!

This is the official CD for the Final Fantasy twentieth anniversary concert tour. At the Distant Worlds site, they have revealed the disc is now on sale at Amazon. Here are some details from the site:

All music composed and produced by Nobuo Uematsu
Arnie Roth, Conductor and Executive Producer

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Allmänna Sången
Susan Calloway (Solo singer)
Emma Wetter, Fredrik Strid and Johan Schinkler (Opera vocal soloists)
Per Skareng (Solo guitarist)

1) Opening - Bombing Mission (FINAL FANTASY VII)
2) Liberi Fatali (FINAL FANTASY VIII)
3) Aerith's Theme (FINAL FANTASY VII)
4) Fisherman's Horizon (FINAL FANTASY VIII)
5) Don't be Afraid (FINAL FANTASY VIII)
6) Memoro de la Stono - Distant Worlds (FINAL FANTASY XI)
7) Medley 2002 (FINAL FANTASY I-III)
8) Theme of Love (FINAL FANTASY IV)
9) Vamo' alla Flamenco (FINAL FANTASY IX)
10) Love Grows (FINAL FANTASY VIII)
11) Opera "Maria and Draco" (FINAL FANTASY VI)
12) Swing de Chocobo (FINAL FANTASY series)
13) One-Winged Angel (FINAL FANTASY VII)

Running time: 75 min.

The price is $19.98, however the CD is also going to be available at the concert tour locations. I'm someone who can't wait for things like this, so I may end up getting it now. There is a quote from Mr. Uematsu at the Distant Worlds site:

"The title selection, the recording quality and the performance quality of the new Distant Worlds CD is excellent. These factors make me call it a Best of Final Fantasy album in every regard,"

Here's the Distant Worlds Site:

Distant Worlds

Below is the link to Amazon:

Buy the CD Here!

More Megaman music news!

Capcom is also releasing two new Megaman arranged CDs, one techno and one rock. I bet these will be really cool. Will they be able to top the Megalomania CD? Anyway, most new Capcom products are only available at cocoeBiz, and you can check out more details of these arranged albums on their upcoming releases page:

Coming Soon

The Rock Arrange is due out on 12/5, and the Techno Arrange is due out on 12/19. You can pre-order them now. Thank you CocoeBiz for making these available!

Megaman 7 & 8 soundtracks available to order now!

I have been wanting this for years! Probably old news already to Megaman fans, but news this good has to be spread around. Finally, Megaman 7 & 8 are getting new and proper soundtrack releases! Both are scheduled to be released on 11-21. I think they will sell really fast! CocoeBiz is also holding a contest to win a Capcom Photo Album for those who purchase some of their Megaman (Rockman) CDs. Here are more details:

Mega man 7

and

Megaman 8

Also check out:

CocoeBiz Contest Page

CocoeBiz Theme Contest

CocoeBiz has announced a contest to compose a theme for them! Only the announcement has been made thus far. They state that more details will come out in early 2008.

Final Fantasy Distant Worlds Meet & Greet SOLD OUT!

The official Final Fantasy Distant Worlds site is reporting that the tickets to meet with Mr. Nobuo Uematsu and conductor Arnie Roth at the show are sold out! This includes the Stockholm and Chicago performances. That didn't take long, did it?

Drawing Sailor Moon (3 of 4)

Part three of Drawing Sailor Moon in real time. As previously mentioned, this was originally a thirty-seven minute drawing session I recorded. In the last one I will show the inked and colored versions of this drawing:

Drawing Sailor Moon (2 of 4)

Here's Part 2, hope you enjoy!

NEW! Drawing Sailor Moon (1 of 4)

I had been wanting to do a Sailor Moon drawing video for a while now, so here is the first part! The total time for the drawing was about thirty-seven minutes, so I split it up into four parts. I will add the others as soon as they are uploaded.

New track at the Skies Symphony

Now that Kiesca (The Skies Symphony) has completed his work on the "First Tragedy" downloadable symphonic Metal album, he has started work on his next project already it seems! Entitled Will of the World, it serves as the instrumental introduction to "Hopeless Reborn". It's fantastic. This one is mostly piano driven, and it's pretty chaotic! It's been a lot of fun following what this guy does. Even though some of his music is really dark, I really enjoy it, and if you haven't yet checked out his game music arranges, I recommend it, they're awesome! Many of the tracks remind me of some epic battle taking place in a RPG.

You can download and listen to First Tragedy or get in on the beginning of Hopeless Reborn at the link below. I think you will appreciate the amazing musicianship if nothing else, and hey, the tracks are completely free! A gift from the artist!

The Skies Symphony

I'll update again when the Skies Symphony adds another work.

Dracula X Chronicles Soundtrack

This is going to be really limited I think. On 11/08/07, the soundtrack to the long-awaited Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles PSP version is scheduled to be released. Cocoebiz is listing it as two discs. I'm guessing that one disc will be the original soundtrack, and the other will be the new arranges for the PSP verison.

Pre-order at cocoebiz now!

On another note, Look for the Cap'n Crunch web comic to hit during the week. I think it's better to launch it when I have more pages completed. Yesterday was gonna be the day, but I spent Friday resting from the work week, and didn't accomplish everything I had set to go Saturday.
Don't forget, the Odin Sphere OST will be released on 10/24!

Since there is no Cap'n Crunch yet, I have a need to get more art up here, so this is a new Batgirl drawing I recently completed.

NEW FINAL FANTASY CONCERT TOUR ANNOUNCED!!

Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy kicks off December 4th, 2007 in Stockholm Sweden! Marking the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy with an all new tour, Mr. Nobuo Uematsu and veteran Final Fantasy Concert conductor Arnie Roth will be there! Even better news, a second show has already been announced for March 1, 2008 in Chicago! It will be at the Rosemont Theater, where Play! A Video Game Symphony launched last year.
This is excellent news! According to the official site (see link below), Mr. Uematsu will be in attendance at both shows. A ticket price of $150.00 has been established to attend a meeting session with Mr. Uematsu at the event. Tickets for the Chicago performance are on sale now. I am thinking they will go quickly. The event promises to be a blast.
A special Final Fantasy CD is also being released to celebrate the series' twenty year history, as well as this new tour. The CD will be available at the concert locations.
Check out the site below!

Distant Worlds Official Site

SEE YOU THERE!!

Play! is heading to Oslo in October!

I am thrilled to see the Play! A Video Game Symphony continue it's world tour. The tour stops in Oslo, Norway on October 26th, at 8:30 PM. You can visit the following sites for more information:

Play-Symphony.no

Play! A Video Game Symphony

As always, I'll report any new Play! news ASAP.

Good News for Odin Sphere fans

The release date for the Odin Sphere soundtrack is Oct. 24th in Japan! I checked a number of sites, and Play-Asia is the only one I have seen so far that has pre-orders available. I am expecting that Cocoebiz will have them available to order soon as well. You can check out the Play-Asia page here:

Pre-order Odin Sphere OST at Play-Asia

Until Next Time!

Drawing Aeris!!

I just got a bunch of cool Final Fantasy arranged tunes, and got really inspired to do a FF sketch video. Here is me drawing Aeris, showcasing some excellent game music in the process.

Great new upcoming game soundtrack releases

A few of the upcoming game soundtrack releases caught my eye, I'm looking forward to these. These are in no particular order.

10/10
Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack
Chances are I won't play the game, but I may check out this soundtrack.


09/27
**More New Music by Yuzo Koshiro!!!!**
Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 Original Soundtrack (First Press Available)
So looking forward to this. Koshiro is my favorite, and I love his work for the first two Wangan Midnight games. They are incredible!!

09/19
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fate / Original Soundtrack
Still haven't played the first FF Crystal Chronicles, but I really enjoyed it's music.

10/10
Ar tonelico 2 Sekai ni Hibiku Shojo tachi no Sozoshi Original Soundtrack
Currently playing Ar Tonelico, and I think this, like the first one, will feature a great soundtrack.

08/22
Dragon Quest Sword Original Soundtrack
I really liked the screenshots for this game. I usually always check out a new Dragon Quest title. No doubt this game will have great music.

The Legend of Xanadu Help Page!

If you've never heard of it, the Legend of Xanadu is one of very few games Falcom released for a console system. In this case, the Japanese PC Engine Duo. Of course you can still play it on a U.S. Turbo Duo as well, without any sort of converter. Later they made it available for PC as an added bonus with Xanadu Next.
I've had an old but great game guide for the Falcom masterpiece Legend of Xanadu for a while now. I found it years ago, and since then it has seemingly disappeared off the internet. Fortunately I saved the guide. Believe me, if you've played Legend of Xanadu, and don't understand Japanese, the guide contains valuable information. For a long time now I've wanted to bring this guide back. The good news is after contacting the author I can indeed bring this guide back for those who want to play this great game. Thank you Ara Shirinian! I have already begun a blog site for the Legend of Xanadu guide. If you haven't played the game, but wanted to, now's your opportunity!

The Legend of Xanadu Help Page

I'm also adding a banner for it in the links section here!

Cap'n Crunch to debut soon...

Not willing to let Cap'n Crunch: Intergalactic Bounty Hunter become just a series of sketches, I've decided to create comics for it! As soon as I finish the first page I will post it here. More than likely I'll have a new page every week. Of course if I'm able to create more pages in a week I'll put them up. I didn't want to start off with an origin tale, so the first story begins in the middle of a battle. I am surprised that it is a lot of fun developing this. Hopefully one day I'll have completed a bunch of different stories with the Cap'n.

I am in the midst of creating a preview trailer for it to put on youtube, so here is a quick look at a sketch for it. You may have to click to enlarge.

Who's that on the lower left there? You'll have to wait and see!

I have another game music delivery on the way soon, and I can't wait to report on all the new music!

Until Next Time...

Yuzo Koshiro Best Collection 2 Titles

Good news! Cocoebiz is listing the following titles will appear in the Yuzo Koshiro Best Collection 2. Super Shinobi and the Bare Knuckle (Streets of Rage) trilogy. Should be quite a treat for those unfamiliar with the music.

The FF Tactics Advance 2 site has some wonderful music when you enter the site. I hope it is in the game.

FF Tactics "A2" Site

My latest sketch video features Adol Christin from the Ys series. I used three different versions of Adol's theme for it:

THANKS FOR 3,000 HITS!!

Thank you for visiting my page again!
In keeping with the tradition of posting a special drawing every thousand page views I get, here is Cap'n Crunch, Intergalactic Bounty Hunter! Maybe I'll do a comic with him one day...

Drawing Mega Man part 2!!

As someone who draws very fast, I made this effort to slow down my approach to Drawing MegaMan. The goal is make it easier to see it come together, so I also cut out a lot of my normal sketch lines, keeping it cleaner to see it better. I practice every day and love to draw constantly.
My personal preference for drawing the Blue Bomber is to make him short, like in the original series. In future videos I will include different characters, and also do the taller version MegaMan as featured in MegaMan 8.
I'm no expert of course, and everyone's approach is different. I always start out with simple shapes and build upon them. MegaMan is like a bunch of circles and ovals thrown together. Don't be afraid to draw your lines light and draw through them until you're comfortable with how the shape turns out. You can always go back and erase the guidelines you don't need anymore.

The Music is one of my favorites from MegaMan 8. Hope you enjoy!