New Games

---

• Next Guild Wars 2 beta event waiting on more hardware
• Zombie cheerleaders can be found at London Comic-Con
• Step into a World of Mercenaries
• Promoted blog: The story of an RPG-lover and MMO-hater
• The DTOID Show: Diablo III, Marvel MMO, & Tom Clancy GRFS
• The Network Roundup: Oh my goth
• This fragrance will make people like you more
• Making a new home in Star Trek Online
• Live show: Mash Tactics is playing Game of Thrones
• Go sign up for the ShootMania Storm beta
• Josh Trank signs as Shadow of the Colossus film director
• Inferno brings more war to EVE Online
• The Sound Card 007: Game music on vinyl
• Ruling by ITC judge says Xbox should see ban in US too
• KickBeat arriving to punch rhythm games in the face
• Have a new Heroes of Ruin trailer

Next Guild Wars 2 beta event waiting on more hardware Posted: 23 May 2012 03:00 PM PDT When is the next beta weekend event for Guild Wars 2? That question has been on my mind ever since the first one ended. With the impending long weekend ahead of us, some people had hoped ArenaNet would open the beta back up in time for Memorial Day, but that is not the case. According to a Facebook post by the company, more hardware is being deployed to ArenaNet's data centers to avoid the technical issues that users experienced last time. "We will be able to tell you exactly when BWE2 will take place as soon as all the hardware has been deployed. We are not withholding a date intentionally, we want to make sure that BWE2 will be a really great experience for all of you." So there you have it. Not exactly the response I would've liked, but knowing is better than utter silence. Now we can spend the weekend enjoying the lovely weather outside. Pfft, yeah right. Diablo III it is! Next Guild Wars 2 beta on hold to implement new hardware [VG247]

Zombie cheerleaders can be found at London Comic-Con Posted: 23 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT Are you sad because you live out of the country and it's very difficult to make it to the legendary San Diego Comic-Con? Well, if you live in/near London, UK, you can always head to the MCM London Comic-Con being held later this week. And to make things better, Lollipop Chainsaw is going to be there and bring along real-life zombie cheerleaders! What's better than that, you ask? How about some actual zombie cheerleading choreography, with moves that include ones like these: The Bone Crushing Split Lift The Ravenous Thigh Stand The Zombie Apocalypse Kickline The Brutal Infection Shoulder Stand In all seriousness, it's really great to see Warner Bros. putting together a pretty big advertisement push for Lollipop Chainsaw, especially after Suda 51's last major project, Shadows of the Damned, was criminally glanced over by consumers. Hopefully it's the exact push the title needs to get more people interested.

Step into a World of Mercenaries Posted: 23 May 2012 01:30 PM PDT The closed beta for the new MMOFPS, World of Mercenaries opens today. Created by Polish Developer City Interactive, WoM is a "teamwork focused" shooter based on Unreal Engine 3.  Seeking to enter the super-crowded class-based FPS space is always a lofty goal. Ever since Valve swept in with Team Fortress 2, bringing their polish and a boatload of hats, it seems like it's become harder and harder for new PC shooters to get the attention that they may (or may not deserve). Though it's always interesting to see how people tackle the RPG aspects of the MMO space. You can sign-up for beta consideration here.

Promoted blog: The story of an RPG-lover and MMO-hater Posted: 23 May 2012 01:00 PM PDT [Dtoid Community Blogger rathowreck shares a very personal story about how he came to love single-player RPGs, hate MMOs, and how his mother's addiction to videogames has affected his gaming life. Please note that rathowreck's views on MMOs may cause a bit of controversy :) Want to see your own words appear on the front page? Get writing! --Mr Andy Dixon] My mother was addicted to World of Warcraft. From my early years in middle school right up until her death the month of my high school graduation, she simultaneously played endless hours of the MMORPG and ruined what could have been a fairly normal home and family life for me. My parents circa 1970-something I have loved role-playing videogames my entire life. My older brother introduced me to them when I was only four or five years old. The original culprit? Final Fantasy II (IV) on the Super Nintendo. I would spend hours just watching him sluggishly grind through red pixel imps and angry yellow flans, having little idea of the motivations behind Cecil and why he would no longer be serving as the leader of the Red Wings. The substance behind stories like Cecil's turned out to be the real catalyst in my decision to decry the existence of MMOs and their ilk. As the years went on I developed my own tastes in videogames, but largely remained true to the Final Fantasy franchise, only occasionally breaking off for a spell of Suikoden or Wild Arms. My brother discovered Ultima Online in 1998. A few months later, so did my mother. The same influence that had wrapped me in the Japanese RPG web caught my mother in something similar, but with more of a western fervor. Little did I know that this was the defining moment of the division and inevitable commercial down slope of Japanese RPGs. The go-anywhere-do-anything nature of games like Ultima Online, Everquest, and World of Warcraft offered the same feeling of grinding-looting-hunting satisfaction of my favorite RPGs, but without the mechanics of a linear story, personable characters, or static and limited equipment hauls. My mother got worse, quitting her 13-year job as a well-liked waitress, sleeping on my living room sofa to avoid my father, and developing a caustic and unpredictable attitude toward her two sons. I don't like to compare my mother's personal issues with those of alcoholic or drug-addicted parents because these are typically much more violent and physical sources of abuse, but even though I was rarely if ever physically hurt, the psychological effects that videogame addiction employs can be just as long-lasting and tragic. My mother's game collection In the early 2000s, my brother ventured off into the punk and hardcore music scenes whereas I, being four years younger, kept on the path I was seemingly destined for as a lower middle class white kid forever bored in suburbia: some friends, some bike-riding, and a lot of videogames. Everquest had just come out, so while I was getting Vivi to jump rope in Alexandria 30 times in a row, my mother was setting up Ventrilo and joining guilds. While I was learning to wrap my head around why this scene in Final Fantasy X brought tears to my eyes, my mother was barking commands and cackling away in her smoky room at the end of the house. If you have ever lived with an abusive parent, a wild and uncouth roommate, or even a troublesome pet, then you know somewhat of what I went through. You're trapped in a house with something venomous, something poisoning your personal ecosystem that you can do little about. You can complain, but no one takes videogame addiction seriously. In fact, my peers thought it was humorous. "Your mom plays WoW? Weird duuuude." Yeah, weird. Those very same peers (see: best friends) became temporary addicts of the famous Blizzard title in the intervening years themselves. You can leave, but only when your tired and compassionate-to-a-fault father feels he can muster up the energy to drive you around after working, buying groceries, and cooking dinner for his motherless children all day. All-weekend sleepovers at friends' were frequent, if sometimes marred by sessions of trying to push those aforementioned friends out of their WoW-induced reveries. Or you can make plans to go far away. Plans like, "When I graduate the first thing I'm doing is moving out." The den My mother died of a brain aneurysm in May 2007, three weeks before my high school graduation; it was the most peaceful summer of my entire life. Final Fantasy XII was my current jam, but there was something about the game I didn't quite like in comparison to the past entries in the series: it reminded me too much of an MMO. Very roam-friendly, a lot of freedom to explore and wander, no limitations. I had never played a western RPG up until this point, having only briefly delved into Diablo II with a friend years before (to date, my only other experience is a mere 34 hours of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim). My plans were foiled, and suddenly I was home alone and the birds were chirping softly every morning and I could eat whenever I wanted and live and breathe cleanly in my own home. I finally had time to take that juxtaposition of Final Fantasy XII to past entries and develop the most important opinion I believe I have ever had about videogames and role-playing games specifically. I kept it simple when I had to explain my reasoning to certain peers who were as enthralled as they could be with adventures like the ones my mother slogged through with her online buddies: I said, "If it doesn't end, I won't play it." This simple motto helped turn away an eerie feeling of hypocrisy when enjoying the process of grinding and treasure-seeking in the subsequent RPGs I played myself. It meant that if a game doesn't have a relevant story directly proportioned to the gameplay that eventually has a sensible conclusion, it is not for me. Her keyboard Some might say I simply need something to blame in the wake of my mother's clearly addictive and lonely nature, with her eventually erratic behavior having a distinct and obvious negative effect on me. Preferring her guild mates to her loving and neighboring real life community and family, for example. The whole blaming the abuser, not the drug, thing. Yeah, yeah, this is a bit more personal. As an avid and passionate gamer, I feel a burning need to simultaneously defend my beloved pastime and favorite art form as well as decry its mutations, especially when they help destroy an entire family for the majority of a decade. MMOs and their ilk (most western fantasy RPGs, and now the JRPGs trying to emulate their success) represent a latent trend in gaming first seen in the arcade days: clear and outright exploitation of players. Games designed to ensnare and subsequently harm the well-being of players using proven dirty tactics. In the arcade days ensuring more quarters was simple: limit life counts, make the game super-challenging, and include lots of shiny collectibles. Not too harmful because the technology wasn't there yet for it to be. Kids didn't have arcade machines in their homes and they couldn't voice chat to people across the country, coordinating the best paths to take in Joust. Addiction was kept at arm's length. Times have changed and now publishers have proven that they can't control their own greedy desires in favor of, let's say, making fun and heartfelt experiences at meager or moderate cost to the player, both monetarily and psychologically. They offend simple principles of how to be humane and compassionate human beings to one another and of what makes videogames amazing. The first offense that WoW makes is its subscription fee. At the time, my mother was paying $15 a month and I knew of no other game that had ever asked for more than a one-time purchase. This was way before downloadable content (which I loathe) and on the precipice of many other games trying to emulate Blizzard's commercial success. The fee might be a slap in the face, but at least it bars entry to people who can't afford to pay $180 a year to play, like young people. Of course Blizzard has followed the recent sneaky trend that makes WoW free-to-play until you hit level 20: just enough time to let the cycles sink their teeth into you and never let you go. This leads me to the second offense I believe MMOs make, which I think is the true heart-and-soul of this issue: the warping of enjoyment in videogames into dull, lifeless, never-ending timesinks. In this regard, World of Warcraft in particular is absolutely good-for-nothing. Whereas the Final Fantasy series balanced out its sometimes arduous grinding with memorable characters and emotional stories, WoW does not even make this effort. The entire game is just a shameless series of side quests. Get the quest, kill the monster, get the loot, get the better quest, kill the tougher monster, get the better loot. Never rinse, always repeat. All with no real motivation (if you try to tell me that World of Warcraft has a story I will bludgeon you with a hilariously sharp Atari Jr. until you bleed from your ass) and therefore minimal substance. If you are going to play games like WoW, at least have the courtesy to admit that you enjoy them for the empty satisfaction you gain from treasure hunting and monster killing for the sake of itself. Behind the computer desk The third offense is a tricky one to define nowadays, but I hold true to it nonetheless: online-only friends are not real friends. Therefore the system of guilding, raids, and inevitable forum discussion is nothing but an illusion of real human connection and community. Two guildmates of my mother's showed up at her funeral. Amidst the brawny, thick, hardened hands of the numerous cousins and uncles I took condolence handshakes from, there came the pale, soft hands of two nerds reaching out to a vague family in New Jersey, having no idea of the demonic aura their presence cast over that room for me that day, despite their well-meant intentions. My mother was a sociable person until her devolution into MMO addiction. After quitting her job, perhaps she found it too difficult to begin something like a career search -- something she hadn't pursued in years. Instead, she found it easier to simply live off of my father's meager earnings and delve deeper into the digital bonds she began to form with those in her virtual life, those who knew her as "Leanan". No body language, no eye contact, no real relatable goals other than to take down the next big mob every Thursday night, no ifs, ands, or buts. I remember hearing her emotional wails from down the hall as each mob hit the ground, or if a tank wasn't performing up to snuff. Maybe this is just another aspect of our modern lives that was soured by my experiences dealing with someone who lost their grip on reality because of it, but I simply cannot agree that those I have only spoken with through text online are my "friends", especially considering the numerous filters and false arrangements creating any type of internet persona requires, all hidden under a literal fantasy avatar. This is the veil proposed by the necessity to band together and gather support to take down high-HP creatures in WoW... and it works because ultimately, World of Warcraft is a single player game. I believe Blizzard is acutely aware of the effects that their games cause in people. It didn't take long for the stories of videogame addiction clinics in the Netherlands and starvation suicides in Korea to surmount over the past decade. Exploitation is the name of the game lately, and companies like Blizzard and Zynga are at the forefront of transforming gaming from simple distractions and heartfelt experiences into a world of subscription services, microtransactions, and shameless player entrapment. With no employed sense of moderation, the majority of the bored-forever population see an easy alternative; an escape to a life of instant satisfaction, a compulsory sense of purpose, and the barest whiff of humanity within. You know, entertainment. The popular existence and overwhelming passion of players of World of Warcraft and its numerous counterparts terrifies me because I've seen the unreasonable and selfish behavior of those addicted to it and the games are simply too shallow to be worth all of this fuss. MMOs are the ultimate example of exactly how video game(r)s can sometimes go too far. I believe such pride (as seen with the release of Diablo III last week) is the result of an inability for individual gamers to admit to themselves that their hobby is perhaps life-draining and caustic, and their refusal to accept this instead morphs into banding together in online communities solemnly declaring that "if there is more than one of me, it must be okay". Unless we back off a bit on the pride we have in slaving away in favor of our own true solitude, the implications will become painstakingly clear; a delusional fantasy facade masking a psychological pit of isolation, depression, neglect, and fear is waiting for those who cannot or will not moderate. I am a Level 27 Khajiit Thief in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I sneak and I cast magic from a distance and I Fus Ro Dah with the best of them. But I feel nothing, my head hurts, and there is no end in sight. I go on Amazon and pre-order The Last Story, and return my borrowed copy of Skyrim to my older brother.

The DTOID Show: Diablo III, Marvel MMO, & Tom Clancy GRFS Posted: 23 May 2012 12:30 PM PDT Hey guys! Here's today's Destructoid Show, the only show about video games on the internet. Ever. Don't argue with me. Today we talk about how Diablo III is the fastest selling PC game of all time, and how people are still griping about the nerfing and buffing and other class-warfare. Speaking of Diablo, the Marvel Heroes F2P MMO is being worked on by one of the dudes from Diablo I and II. Dale North checked out Lost Planet 3, which sounds fun because you get to kill aliens, as well as XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which also sounds fun because you get to kill aliens. Also, it's got some pre-order bonuses, and the other XCOM game's getting delayed. After the break, we run down Maurice's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier, which is a game that has too many words in its title. Seriously, video game companies, stop it. I will hit you.

The Network Roundup: Oh my goth Posted: 23 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT I'm not sure if it made a blip on your radar or not, but yesterday was World Goth Day. In high school I fancied quite a few bands that might be considered goth at the time, and maybe wore my eyeliner on the heavy side. These days I think the term and style has changed a bit, so I'm not even sure what it means anymore. Let's just rock out to some Bauhaus and get our game on! Destructoid kept the mood gloomy by letting Diablo III players know that they just won't be as cool next time they log in. Japanator dimmed the lights with some moody Madoka news. The art house vibes continued on Flixist as Wes Anderson Week skipped along. Finally, Tomopop showed us some figures of some hard core goths. The Men in Black. Now that would have been a great name for an 80's goth band! Any goth fans? Japanator Shonen Jump Alpha serializes Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration. Some old school manga action. Yakuza 5 has five playable characters in 5 cities. Kamurocho will always feel like home. Madoka contracts with Sanrio. Homura is looking pretty goth Flixist Five Reasons Why The Royal Tenenbaums is Overrated. Sorry, I still love this flick to death. Chronicle's Josh Trank to direct Shadow of the Colossus. What? A movie? Book: The Book of Alien. I need to get this! Please buy it for me. Tomopop Enterbay's Men in Black 3 figures fully revealed. Two really goth men. Tomopop Review: DIY Zukie. I wish I was creative. Major Kusanagi, Medaka Kurokami join the Gutto Kuru line. A posable Kusanagi? How long I've waited for you!

This fragrance will make people like you more Posted: 23 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT Every so often a marketing idea will come along to gear their product toward 'gamers' or 'geeks', and sometimes those products aren't terrible. Or you get something like Erox, a unisex fragrance targeted at the aforementioned demographic. This isn't just any old fragrance though; according to the website it uses science to make the wearer more attractive with two synthetic human pheromones and a special chemical that acts as an aphrodisiac. Marketing for this product will be done primarily via social media like Facebook, Twitter and various forums. There are also comics, which you can find on the main site. The comics feature Erox spokeswoman Adrianne Curry who is a self-proclaimed lover of 'geekdom'. I'm pretty sure I've never called myself a geek. Ever. They're worth the effort it will take you to navigate there.  Sometimes, products geared toward our demographic are entertaining and make sense. This does not. In fact, under the amusement of how absurd this is, I'm a little annoyed. If a product is good, and well made, people are going to buy it. Using gimmicks to sell a product makes me less likely to buy it simply because it tells me the thing they're trying to sell can't stand on its own. At least it's nice to see that the snake oil salesmen have graduated to a higher form of sales pitch. Buy Erox, because it will make people like you more.

Making a new home in Star Trek Online Posted: 23 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT Star Trek Online's episodic additions are one aspect of the game that's generally been done right, especially thanks to player feedback. The latest series, Season Six: Under Siege, is bringing a new story, new equipment and most importantly, player starbases. These homes away from home can be built and customized by players and fleets can band together to construct bases for themselves. Lead designer, Jeremy Mattson, has posted a dev blog detailing the inspiration for these structures and the purpose behind them. It's an interesting read, especially for fans of the source material.

Live show: Mash Tactics is playing Game of Thrones Posted: 23 May 2012 10:30 AM PDT I am too much of a Game of Thrones fan to make any cheap references here. Winter is coming to Mash Tactics today! Yup, I lied. King Foom is playing the new Western RPG-style Game of Thrones from Japanese developer, Atlus tonight. This one seemed to sneak up on a lot of people, so if you weren't aware it came out or even existed, here's a great chance to see it in action. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Dtoid.TV. Watch King Foom play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.

Go sign up for the ShootMania Storm beta Posted: 23 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT So ShootMania Storm sounds interesting, right? Well I think it does at least. It seems like a neat twist to the first-person shooter genre. And one we are all going to be able to check out soon thanks to the beta that you can sign up for right now. Or if that's too much effort, then you can just watch the game played on TwitchTV. There's going to be a ShootMania tournament on June 1, with the winning teams invited to compete in the finals at the Ubisoft booth at E3 on June 6. Neat!

Josh Trank signs as Shadow of the Colossus film director Posted: 23 May 2012 09:53 AM PDT Sister site Flixist reports that Chronicle director Josh Trank has signed on to direct the movie adaptation of one of the best PS2 games ever made (and now PS3), Shadow of the Colossus. Deadline says that Trank has been a fan of the game since it launched back in 2005, and sought out this job. Sony Pictures are currently interviewing writers to work on the film with its new director. And, seeing as how Trank is working on both Fantastic Four for Fox and Venom for Sony, this might be awhile. As a huge fan of the game I can't say I'm too excited about seeing Team Ico's masterwork turned into a film. Still, there's the possibility that Trank could work some magic with the game's cinematic set pieces and make this something really great. I would have picked to work on a movie adaptation of The Last Guardian instead because they're never going to finish the damned game!

Inferno brings more war to EVE Online Posted: 23 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT EVE Online's 17th free expansion, Inferno, was launched yesterday. While EVE is often mentioned in conjunction with spreadsheets, it's still a game where thousands of ships can participate in vast space battles. Inferno is here to scratch that war itch with new missile launchers, more PvP, improved faction based warfare systems and graphical updates which make war look all the more pretty. A whole lot more has been added as well. You can check out the details on the EVE Online site.

The Sound Card 007: Game music on vinyl Posted: 23 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT It’s back! It started and ended in 2008. The Sound Card, I mean. Dale North started the series many years ago, and while it had a very short run, I was always a fan of the column which featured zany lists that included “the 8 most f*cked up vocal remixes” and “the top ten most obnoxious game songs.” I wanted to bring the series back, and while I just noted that it focused on a lot of lists, the introductory post was an excellent primer to game music, most of which is still applicable today. What Dale didn’t touch on, however, was game music on vinyl. This is where it all began, and we’ve recently been seeing a resurgence, so I wanted to delve into this long-forgotten chapter in the history of videogames and show off some release both new and old in some unboxing style videos. Let’s give a warm welcome back to The Sound Card, and look forward to more coming soon… I’ve already got some top ten lists brewing in my head! So, what the hell is vinyl? I think this is a pretty valid question. My first experience with the medium was coming across a copy of Guns ‘N’ Roses’ Use You Illusion and Appetite for Destruction in my parents' closet. It had some pretty provocative artwork, which is probably why it was in the closet, and probably why I never asked about it. It was big, bulky, and looked cool, but I had no idea what it was. Being born in the mid-1980s, the audio cassette tape had largely taken over, so I was enjoying my music on that medium. I remember seeing a turn table on top of my grandfather’s stereo setup, but even having seen the record in my parents' closet and the turn table at my grandfather’s, I didn’t put two and two together until much later. Probably when seeing some sort of DJ shenanigans on television. Anyway, vinyl still, to this day, has some benefits which may be countered by some pretty severe negatives. They’re essentially large discs of wax with grooves cut into either side. They come in different sizes, and can be played at different speeds to produce interesting effects (they can also be played backwards, which some artists used as a neat gimmick to hide things in their music). In terms of benefits, the audio cut into a record is all analog, or, in other words, not digital as you’ll find in compact disc (CD) or, obviously, digital files. Digital files approximate the original sound waves that were generated by the artist, so in a sense, what you hear on a vinyl record is the true, purest sound as if you were hearing it performed live. However, music written in a digital format (on a computer) is already digitized, so while you might not get that complete analog sound on vinyl, if the music is prepared properly, can still benefit from the medium. In that case (as is the case with most recent vinyl releases), I think the major attraction is that they just look cool, and there’s this romantic notion about a forgotten medium from the past. About those negatives though. Due to the optimal spacing of the grooves on the record, you can’t really squeeze more than 20-25 minutes of music per side. Additionally, due to the fact that a needle has to be in physical contact with the record to produce sound, over time, the grooves erode and the sound quality is reduced. Think of that grainy sound that you associate with vinyl, and that’s what you’re looking at. The fact that there’s a finite number of times you can enjoy it, however, adds a sort of rustic charm to the medium. I guess this also applied to cassette tapes, but cassettes aren’t nearly as cool as vinyl, right? Game music on vinyl Now, it’s pretty difficult to explore the history of game music on vinyl. There aren't a lot of resources, and some of the early stuff was pretty obscure. However, VGMdb, a fan-updated resource, is probably your best bet and is what I’m using extensively for this feature. To take a look for yourself, go into the advanced search, check “game music” and “vinyl,” and hit search. Then sort by date. There should be about 8 pages of releases. The limitation, however, and a disclaimer before I launch into this, is that if it’s not in fans’ hands, it’s probably not in the database, so if anything, there’s more music out there on vinyl than VGMdb would indicate. According to VGMdb, however, one of the first instances of game music on vinyl was in 1978 with Yellow Magic Orchestra’s self-titled record. It contained remixes from Circus and Space Invaders and paved the way for other releases through the late 1970s and early 1980s that included lots of Pac-Man, Asteroids, Yars’ Revenge, Missile Command, and others. These even got their own drama albums complete with read-along books that told brief stories from these games. Jump forward to 1983 and you have Do the Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong proper. Through the mid-1980s, Namco came on board with Xevious followed by their compilation album, Namco Video Game Graffiti which featured Dig Dug, Sky Kid, New Rally-X!, Mappy, and more. From here flowed a golden age of game music on vinyl. There were releases for  Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda with original and orchestra versions and a Famicom music collection with tons of classic NES hits which were followed by Konami, Capcom, Hudson, Sega, Taito, SNK, and Tecmo releases through the mid-1980s. Enix was one of the pioneers with Koichi Sugiyama bringing a live orchestra to game music (his Dragon Quest Symphonic Suite series was actually the first orchestral game music concert ever back in the 1980s, but that’s a topic for another time), and in addition to live orchestra, brass ensembles and electone arrangements were also produced on vinyl. Everything from Ultima and Ys to Contra and Final Fantasy came next to round out the 80s and get us started into the 1990s. There were literally hundreds of vinyl releases during this decade, and the volume of releases dropped precipitously from there. To give you a sense of the changes that occurred, let me give you a quick count (again, from VGMdb with its known limitations): 1970s – 4 1980s – 119 1990s – 43 2000s – 41 2010s – 27 (in just three years!) With CD taking over in the 1990s and the launch of the new platforms by Sega and Nintendo, there were fewer but still some amazing releases. Sonic the Hedgehog made his debut on vinyl around this time, along with Tetris, the much deserving Pulseman, and Street Fighter II. There were also a slew of remix albums around this time, including this funky Super Mario Land: Ambassadors of Funk release: After only a few releases to celebrate our beloved SEGA Genesis and Super Nintendo, it was on to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Wipeout, a series seemingly made for vinyl, was released, along with Tekken, Ridge Racer, and the amazing Parappa the Rapper. I also got my hands on these rare remixes from stage 4 in Rez which aren’t even in VGMdb: Squaresoft made an appearance during the mid-1990s with Front Mission Alternative, a fantastic arrange album, and later with “Eyes on Me” from Final Fantasy VIII, along with Konami’s Dracula X / Vampire Killer from Symphony of the Night and beatmania, Capcom’s Biohazard 2, and Sega’s Sonic R and Burning Rangers. While the packaging for many of these releases was pretty minimal, I found the following dual-record GHOST IN THE SHELL MEGATECH BODY.VINYL.LTD release to be pretty amazing in the packaging department: Another reason we’ll never really know how much vinyl is out there is because of releases like this one: Squaresoft prepared this dual-record release of Parasite Eve Remixes as a promotional tool for DJs to start messing around with their material. This was never released commercially, and so with things like this, we may never know all of what’s out there. There were slightly fewer releases in the 2000s. By this time, vinyl was rare and more promotional than commercial. There was seemingly nothing sexy about the format by this time, and aside from a few releases like Grand Theft Auto III, Doom 3, and a nifty red Super Street Fighter II Turbo Battle release. There were some interesting fan remix albums (also rare and not in VGMdb) that can be seen here: A friend, Haroon “FFMusicDJ” Piracha (who also sent me many of these rare vinyl releases to include in this feature) sent me this interesting animated graphic showing percentage of music sales from 1980 through 2010, which is quite telling in what happened to vinyl during this period. Then came the 2010s. We saw a resurgence of the medium both in underground circles and from big name publishes. I think what’s partially responsible is the enthusiastic underground communities that comprise the indie game scene. The atmosphere is one that makes it seem as though anything is possible, and some great music is being created for these titles. One such release, and the first to hit in 2010 was the excellent soundtrack to Machinarium, which is actually still available to fans who are interested: This was followed by a slew of both promotional and commercial releases from game companies including 2K (BioShock), Square Enix (Final Fantasy XIII), Blizzard Entertainment (StarCraft II), Rockstar (Red Dead Redemption), THQ (the rare de Blob and de Blob 2) and even Microsoft (Halo: Combat Evolved). Check some of these out below: Indie releases also kept things going with the popular Sword & Sworcery LP hitting vinyl, and a title that I think is the single most deserving soundtrack of a vinyl release, 2009s Shatter (the vinyl was released in 2011), which is easily one of my favorite soundtracks of all time: I think what Jim Guthrie, composer of Sword & Sworcery, has to say about why vinyl and why now is quite telling of the indie scene’s desire to get things like this done: “For as long as I've been making records/music the ultimate goal has always been to release stuff on vinyl. It's never been a question of should I press vinyl. It's ‘can I press vinyl and not lose my shirt?’ It's the perfect format to experience music and it's out-lived every medium that's come since. Sound great. The art is nice and big and you have to interact with it in order to hear it in a way that is very satisfying. I don't want to sound like a broken record (pun intended) but CDs and mp3s don't provide the same experience. They are convenient and easy to store, rip and steal but that's about it. No matter how high tech things get I believe vinyl will always have a place in this world.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Not since the 1980s have we seen so many vinyl releases per year. This year already has seen releases celebrating the Commodore 64, the Music of Retro City Rampage (get that blue one while you still can!) and the upcoming Botanicula from Minority Records (the same label that put out Machinarium). It’s a good time for fans of vinyl, and after a turbulent history, it’s time to dust off (or in my case, go out and buy!) a turn table and relive a piece of musical history. Where to find vinyl Unfortunately most of the stuff released up through 2010 is nearly impossible to find at this point. Even the most recent releases are only printed in limited quantities, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. With that in mind, it’s best to hit up auction sites like eBay to find older stuff. Haroon Piracha, who was responsible for finding a lot of the stuff featured here, also recommends Juno Records where he’s seen some pretty cool stuff, including “Heavenly Star” by the Genki Rockets. Some companies still do offer their vinyl releases for sale. Here’s a quick run-down: Square-Enix (Japanese only): http://store.jp.square-enix.com/ You can pick up two from Final Fantasy XIII, one from Final Fantasy XI, the Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album, and the SQ Trax remix album for relatively cheap (about $30 USD), although it’s exclusive to the e-Store and must be purchased from within Japan. Blizzard Entertainment: http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100001265 You can still pick up Revolution Overdrive – Songs of Liberty, a collection of original music created for the jukebox in StarCraft II for $25. Minority Records: http://www.minorityrecords.com/ Machinarium has gone through a reprint due to high demand. Pick it up now if you want it; it’s a great soundtrack and the packaging is stellar. Botanicula is their latest release coming out in May. Retro City Rampage: http://retrocityrampage.bandcamp.com/ We already noted that these are extremely limited, with 100 blue, 100 green, and 300 black. Green is sold out, and there are very few blue remaining. There’s also a sale directly through Lotus Audio right now for $4 CAD off: http://lotusaudio.com/retrocityrampagevinyl.htm Shatter: http://sidhe.bandcamp.com/album/shatter-official-videogame-soundtrack Easily one of the greatest soundtracks of all time, signed by Jeremiah “module” Ross himself. Pick this one up before it’s gone! Sword & Sworcery LP: http://jimguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/sword-sworcery-lp-the-ballad-of-the-space-babies Hugely popular soundtrack. Jim Guthrie is swimming orders right now, so pick this up soon if you want a chance at it. The Minibosses: brass 2: http://minibosses.bandcamp.com/album/brass-2-mouth I want to highlight the fan remix/band scene as well. The Minibosses are the pioneers responsible for a lot of what we enjoy at events like MAGFest today. Support them and pick up a nifty vinyl release while you’re at it. In closing I don’t claim to be an expert on the medium. When Square Enix started up their vinyl series starting with Final Fantasy XIII and upon hearing that Shatter was getting a vinyl release, my interest was sparked. I hadn’t explored vinyl before this, and this was only a year or two ago! Anyone can get into this as a sub-hobby of game music, and I think you’ll find it’s very addictive trying to track down your favorite releases on the used market. I guess it’s also frustrating when you can’t find what you’re looking for, though! Still, I’d love to hear if anyone out there has a ‘game music on vinyl’ experience. I think we’re going to be seeing more of this moving forward. Even if the CD format gives way to digital, as that animated graphic would suggest, I think the true benefit of pure analog sound is an attraction that’s unique to the medium, not to mention the sheer size of these records makes the sleeves great display pieces (although the small vinyl releases are also cute!). Welcome back to The Sound Card, and welcome back to vinyl!

Ruling by ITC judge says Xbox should see ban in US too Posted: 23 May 2012 08:30 AM PDT Last month, Administrative Judge David Shaw at the US International Trade Commission decided that Xbox had been in violation of four Motorola patents in relation to the H.264 video compression codec technology. He did not have a final ruling until this past Monday, where he recommended that the Xbox 360 should see a sales and import ban in the United States, similar to the ruling in Germany (Motorola has been asked to not yet act on the ban there because of the ongoing ruling here in the US). From here, the case will now move onto the ITC's six-person board of commissions where a decision has to be made by August 23rd on whether to change the ruling or let it pass on to the Obama administration. President Obama then has a 60-day review period to either sign-off, or overturn the decision. To clarify, the Xbox 360 is not currently banned in the United States. In fact, Microsoft is quite confident the Commission will ultimately rule in their favor, citing that Motorola will be "held to its promise to make its standard essential patents available on fair and reasonable terms for the benefit of consumers who enjoy video on the web." The ruling is even more interesting considering that last week, the ITC ruled in Microsoft's favor for a sales and import ban on all Motorola smartphones and tablets for a patent violation on those devices. It's pretty astounding to think that there is a chance that no Xbox 360s and Motorola phones or tablets could be imported or sold in the United States when the dust settles. If the rulings do pass, both companies would see extreme losses, with Microsoft having to pay Motorola for every single Xbox 360 sold in the United States up to this point (for the record, that's over 25 million of them) and Motorola would take an enormous hit as phones and tablets take up a large percentage of the business. Hopefully the two companies can just agree to disagree and let each other license out the patents before this gets out of hand. ITC Judge: Xbox Should Be Banned From U.S. Over Motorola Patent Violation [Wired]

KickBeat arriving to punch rhythm games in the face Posted: 23 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT Zen Studios, known best for their Zen Pinball and Pinball FX series, announced today a new title for PS Vita. KickBeat will pair rhythm game mechanics with a kung-fu fighting visual presentation and a soundtrack with tracks from Marilyn Manson, In Flames and Rob Zombie (among others). Instead of arrows and symbols to indicate the next instruction, the game will use combat scenes to deliver cues. I'm delighted by the idea and hope that the execution can make the mechanics as instantly accessible to a player as a literal depiction of a button. The low barrier for entry is part of what makes the rhythm genre so popular, after all, but those visual elements are also so very much a "game thing" that it will still turn off some folk. Of course, I doubt any of those people would wind up playing a title like Kickbeat either.

Have a new Heroes of Ruin trailer Posted: 23 May 2012 06:30 AM PDT With Diablo III absorbing my time and Torchlight II getting my giddy, I'm very much in the mood for loot-driven hacky slashers, and I really wouldn't mind one to play while I'm having a massive poo out of my arse's hole. Heroes of Ruin looks like it has what I need.  Here's a new trailer for the game (with one bit of art), which I've been pretty intrigued by since it was first announced. A dungeon crawler featuring drop-in online co-op (with voice chat) on the 3DS sounds pretty wild, and the video has me quite pumped.  I shall most definitely look forward to checking this one out.

You are subscribed to email updates from Destructoid To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610