Weekend Feature

Greg Edmonson is the composer behind the award-winning soundtrack to G4tv.com's 2009 Game of the Year Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, as well as the original Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. He is also the man who brought the music to life on the beloved “Firefly” TV series.  Mr. Edmonson was kind enough to take time to answer some questions from the Feed and from some of its readers. Come inside and find out what went into creating the score to Uncharted 2, the difference between composing for games, TV and films and what certain thread connects Uncharted’s Nathan Drake with Malcolm Reynolds.

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Well this is sort of random, but anything Halo-related is extremely welcome, especially considering we’re all suffering from Halo: Reach Beta Fever! The DJ duo known as Tritonal have remixed Michael Salvatori’s “Never Forget” from Halo 3 into an utterly delicious trance groove. Even better is that they are offering it up as a free download! Grab a glowstick and an Unggoy dance partner and come inside for a listen.

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8 Bit Weapon and ComputeHer, the dynamic duo of the Chiptunes music scene, have announced their new concert tour. The Feed got the inside bloop from these artists about the tour, what fans can expect and how they can pitch in to support it. We even have some tuneage for you enjoy while you read. Hit the jump like an 8 bit Mario already, would ya!

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Oh Ubisoft, why do you tease us so? First you tempt us with the oh-so awesome sounds of Tom Salta’s music for Red Steel 2 last month, and yet, no word on a soundtrack album release for it. And now, you dangle Mr. Salta’s music in front of our willing ears, again! This time for the forthcoming Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands for the Nintendo Wii. Have we been bad video game music fans? No confirmed soundtrack release for this either? Come inside, take a listen, and if you have a magic lamp lying about, please rub it and wish for the Ubisoft genie to grant us a wish.

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With the release of the soundtrack for Dark Void Zero, I am now firmly convinced Bear McCreary is either a genius or a time traveler. McCreary has so uncannily captured the feeling and tone of the mid-1980’s game scene with this 8-bit soundtrack, that you would swear his name is just a pseudonym and he is actually a member of the Konami Square Wave Club of composers, who has come forward in time to remind gamers of their sonic roots. Ok, that’s not fair, because as we all know he is a highly accomplished composer in his own right. However, the music for Dark Void Zero is another reason why we should hope he treads from the film and TV score world, back into the realm of game music, sooner rather than later. Click the time travel link below and listen why.

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Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the most important albums in popular music. With over 45 million copies sold, an unbeatable record 741 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and the standard by which audiophiles show off their sound systems, it is one of a rare group of albums that truly are required listening. So what happens when you take one of the most legendary recordings of all time and recreate it in the chiptunes style? Come inside and take a listen. You may just be surprised.

Now I am a huge chiptunes fan, but when it comes to these kinds of recordings, they really have to be done right to be listenable beyond mere curiosity. Not only does MOON8 sound good, it transcends sounding like music done for a video game. Sure, the tones are undeniably old-school NES, but nothing has been done to tweak the music to sound like it actually came from a game. This is a chiptunes recreation in its purest sense.

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Wait, let me check my calendar. Hmmm, it’s only March? Well, ok, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Sony releasing soundtrack album of the year quality material in Q1. It just means everyone else in the game music realm is going to have to step up their game (so to speak) for all the other titles coming out this year. God of War III’s soundtrack album is of such outstanding quality, it is going to be tough to surpass it when it comes time for the next round of video game awards to be handed out. Come join us for a listen, won’t you? No, really. Kratos insists you join us.

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Much like the game's namesake soldiers, the soundtrack album for "Halo 3: ODST" performed a surprise, precision insertion onto my desk last week. Even though I had exactly zero hands-on time with ODST yet, all of about 0.7 seconds passed before I spun up the CD to hear what Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori had created for the game's audio ammunition. The big question I had was, since ODST is a different take on the Halo-verse, how would this translate into the music? We've even got samples prepared to drop, in this spoiler free review.

There's no spoiler warning needed here because I am not going to list any track names that might give any of the story away, though I will say that there doesn't seem to be much that can be gleaned from them anyway. Since you aren't playing as Master Chief this time, it goes without saying that Halo 3: ODST will be a different yet familiar game play experience, so it should come as no surprise that ODST's music is different yet familiar. Don't worry though, O'Donnell and Salvatori have not gone and created an Auto-Tuned Halo Choir monstrosity. This is most definitely Halo music, just in a different mode.

To hear more clips and see the rest of my Halo 3: ODST soundtrack review, click the cut below.

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Welcome back to The Hot Sheet, G4tv.com's light-hearted look at the industry. As always, data and analysis is unscientific, and facts may be slightly altered for comedic purposes. Let's get in touch with our feelings, shall we? (Oh, and happy 4th of July!)

What People Can't Wait To Get Their Hands On

People have got summer fun on the mind, which explains Wii Sports Resort being on top of this week's Amazon.com snapshot of top pre-orders. Nancy Drew is an odd one, from our core perspective at least. And in the distance, the faint sounds of tuba, trombone, and creative student cheers can be heard...

Amazon.com's Top 10 Pre-ordered video game items, as of 1:43PM, Saturday July 4, 2009

1) Wii Sports Resort
2) Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships
3) Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
4) Dissidia Final Fantasy
5) Metroid Prime Trilogy: Collectors Edition

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It's the weekend, folks, and that means Easter eggs for Christians, leftover brisket and matzo ball soup for Jews and, for atheists, nothing... but that's how they like it. TheFeed will, as always, be playing video games this weekend, and here's which titles we'll be rocking on this most holy of weekends.

Brian Leahy: I feel like this weekend will be an achievement whoring weekend. In between matches of Halo 3 on the new Mythic maps, I’ll be grinding out some gamerpoints on Fallout 3, GTA IV, and Resident Evil 5. I’ll probably also try out RE5 Versus and see if it’s worth $5. Have you played it yet? Is it?

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Ladies, gentlemen, and geeks of all genders (in the US only - sorry, New Zealanders), I am proud to have the opportunity to non-exclusively present to you via near-standard-def streaming video for your viewing ecstacy...

...the first episode from the second season of HBO's Flight of the Conchords -- exactly an entire week before it officially premieres!

Now, while I don't normally (ever) contribute to the physical being of our blog in terms of written content (you'll see why - I'm hopelessly addicted to runaway parentheticals), I've been a constant part of G4 and G4tv.com longer than just about anyone on the planet.

Quick (true) story:

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In case you haven’t been paying attention to the 25-hour a day news cycle that has overtaken our nation over the last few months, there’s an election coming up here in the United states, and gamers are a significant voting block. According to Nielsen: 50 percent of all people in the U.S. play computer and videogames. That's a lot of Voters!

Even if you have been hiding under a rock this election season, game developers haven’t been. They’ve been creating a raft of video games that allow simulations of the election process. At their silliest, these games are simple-minded fun for partisans, but at their best, some of the campaign sims have surprising depth and give a little window into how our democracy works. Below is a survey of some of what’s out there for your PC gaming, political junkie needs.

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Imagine if you lived every single day with a health bar at the corner of your vision--how would that affect your day-to-day life? Would you refuse a third serving of beef sundae so you wouldn't deplete your fitness gauge? Or would you pump up your fatness stat by saying "Yes" to that third serving of beef sundae? Would you feel restrained from doing whatever the hell you wanted if you constantly saw a real-time measurements of your success or failure?

Either way, it's not a very realistic scenario, but it's one most everyone accepts without question in video games. Game graphics and storylines are getting closer and closer to "real life," so why do we accept the contrivance of the Heads-Up-Display (HUD). Why do we accept that the character we're playing instantly knows exactly how many gunshots he can suffer before he dies or exactly how far he has to walk to his destination? It wouldn't work in a book or movie, right?

With upcoming games such as Far Cry 2 and Dead Space, HUDs on games are fading away. For what reason, we all ask? Well, fellow G4-ian Jeffrey Kanjanapangka and I will discuss....

...The Death of the Hud.

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Dear TheFeed Readers,

This is the fourth Saturday feature I've had the pleasure of writing for you, and sadly, it may be my last. Not because I'm leaving or because TheFeed is ending it's Saturday Features or anything like that. It may be the last for entirely different reason all together:

The world might not be here next Saturday.

Don't panic. The Earth isn't being demolished in order to make space for some hyperspatial express route and nobody is coming down from the sky to taking us up to an eternal paradise of sitting on clouds and playing lyres. At least, I don't think that's happening.

The threat that is actually facing us, dear TheFeeders, is in Europe and goes by the name of the Large Hadron Collider. It's scheduled for activation on Wednesday, September 10th, and it could be the end of us all.

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Since I've logged over 80 hours of gameplay in SquareSoft's classic PSone RPG Xenogears, I knew I was up to something. Aside from the probability of never achieving contact with a female, the sensation of "hardcore" gaming was all over me. It was like when I first pressed the A button and watched Mario stomp a goomba. It was like landing that knock-out punch to Glass Joe in Punch Out. Just like using an elixir during a hectic Final Fantasy turn-based battle, the experience was refreshing.

But these days, I've been hearing several of my peers hosting many Wii Sports nights. Though the mix of pseudo-sports activities and hot wings seemed enticing, I was always hesitant in attending one. So one night, after cancelling my booked schedule consisting of nothing, I attend one of my buddy's Wii Sports event. I laughed. I played. And I laughed some more. But during my laughter, I asked myself, "Is this considered hardcore gaming", then immediately, I was pummeled down in Boxing.

So really, what's the definition of a "hardcore gamer"?

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