Coming Thursday, June 5, you’ll be able to download “The End Begins (to Rock)”, a rockin’ take on the theme song from God of War II, exclusively for the PLAYSTATION 3 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Most importantly, this Add-On will be FREE! The audio track will also be made available on the PLAYSTATION Store in free, downloadable form as well.

Starting Thursday, check in to the PLAYSTATION STORE and look for Add-On content on the home page. Download, fire up Guitar Hero III, check out the Downloads section and Rock Out!

Thanks to all the good people at SCEA and Neversoft who helped make this happen!

Hello, it’s Dylan Cuthbert from Q-Games, the company behind PixelJunk, and I’ve decided to write another blog entry to coincide with our upcoming release of the PixelJunk Monsters Soundtrack. Yes, you heard right! We are going to be the first people ever to release a soundtrack on the PSN store and it’s because we have been inundated with requests from all the fans out there! Here’s a sample track:

So today’s blog is going to be slightly different so I can simultaneously introduce you to Otograph, who made the music, and Kentaro Yoshida, who is studio director here at Q-Games and has worked hard as Producer on all the PixelJunk titles. Yoshida has a long history, having worked as an artist on all the Panzer Dragoon games for Sega, including “Orta” (for which he was art director) and he also worked for a few years at Sony Japan during which time I met with him and we made the duck-in-a-bath PS2 tech demo together. Anyway, today I am acting simply as translator because I have persuaded him to interview Otograph for the blog, so here we go:

Yoshida: To begin with please tell us a bit about yourselves, the genre of music you make and what you have been up to recently.

Otograph: We are creative unit consisting of two people, Iura Takashi and Oshima Sachiyo. We formed in 2004 and work to express ourselves in art as well as music, without limiting ourselves to any particular medium. We are often told our music doesn’t really fit in a particular genre, and that is probably because instead of specializing in one style, we place more importance on moments of touch and visual sensation to inspire us.

From 2007 we have been involved in a young modern artist group called “small-ness” and have been holding exhibitions here in Japan. We are planning to show this exhibition outside Japan in the near future. Also, we are considering holding our own independent Otograph exhibition.

Yoshida: It’s interesting but there seem to be many artists and musicians in Kyoto, why do you think this is so?

Otograph: Well the truth is both of us just happened to have been born here and we also went to University here in Kyoto. But we do think Kyoto is a very relaxed city that lets you concentrate on being creative and this might be one of the reasons. We also have a lot of artistic friends here. To use a phrase from Buddhism, Kyoto is a city with many threads of destiny. Of course, nowadays, no matter where are you are there are many ways to get your message across to the world. We plan to expand out of Kyoto at some point but wherever we go it will always be a very important place for us.

Yoshida: Ok, so name some of your all-time favorite games!

Otograph: Well, we like different games, Iura’s favorite game is Wizardry 1 thru 4 and Oshima’s favorite is the original Game&Watch Donkey Kong!

Yoshida: You’re making me nostalgic. Tell me your favorite musician.

Iura: There are so many musicians that I greatly respect so it is very difficult to choose a favorite. However, recently I have been listening to nothing but Wes Montgomery.
Oshima: Glenn Herbert Gould. The grain and quality of the sound is really beautiful.

Yoshida: Please tell us about the experience you had making music for Monsters.

Otograph: Well, first of all we were approached by Mr. Tominaga [Dylan side note: "Tomi" is the main director of PixelJunk Eden by the way] of Q-Games who would always came to our live music performances. We were interested in collaborating so we prepared a sample track (the raw material for “bye bye Monsters” which is on the soundtrack), and Q-Games signed us up. The rest is history!

Yoshida: I think this is the first time you’ve been involved in making music for a video game. So how was it?

Otograph: We progressed quickly with the music before the design for the game was finalized. After hearing the initial description of the type of music Q-Games was looking for, we were given a lot of freedom to create whatever we liked. Then, when the game started coming together we were nicely surprised at how the music, art and the player’s movement all fit together so strangely well.

Yoshida: What did you find difficult about working on Monsters?

Otograph: Well, for games, not only is there music, but there are also sound effects and we had to design both not to conflict with each other. For example, we tried to keep the rhythm sections and tones simple because of this. We also paid attention to giving the sound effects and music a sense of unity. The stages in Monsters are basically one screen so we attempted to use the music to expand the world beyond that for the player, and with just the music, our goal was to arouse the sensation in people to create puzzles.

Yoshida: So what is your opinion of the final product – PixelJunk Monsters?

Otograph: Well actually, we only got around to buying a PS3 just a few weeks ago and now we are totally addicted to Monsters! Of course we play-tested the game a number of times during development but the final tuning that went into all of the stages is exquisite! When we close our eyes we see those pink tower level meters and gems floating before us. :-)

Yoshida: If you have the chance again, what genre or type of game would you like to be involved in?

Otograph: Well, PixelJunk Monsters was a very fresh but at the same time somehow nostalgic-feeling game, so next we’d love to work on a game style that has never been seen before and is totally new and different. Right now, we are very interested in puzzle games, or games that make you exercise your brain.

Yoshida: I think there are probably a lot of people in the West who heard your music for the first time when they played Monsters and I’m sure you have gained many fans. So finally what would you like to say to them?

Otograph: To everyone who listened to and enjoyed our music, we are hugely grateful to you all! We will endeavor to challenge ourselves more and more so keep cheering us on!

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Well, that wraps up the Q&A. Thanks to Yoshida and Otograph for taking the time to give us some detailed and thoughtful answers…I enjoyed translating them. Remember everyone, the soundtrack is available this Thursday May 22 on the US store for just $2.99. Support us and we’ll support you!

First off, sorry for the confusion on the demo, we were trying to move quickly to get you guys updates, and unfortunately there were some miscommunications on our side of the fence. In the future, instead of reacting too quickly, we will be sure to communicate with you in a timely fashion with the most accurate information possible.

Now that hopefully we’re back on your good side, I wanted to point out two great stories I read the other day from our friends over at Kotaku and PlayStation Universe. Both stories are very complimentary, and discuss the Uncharted Press Kit and its contents in detail. I noticed the story generated a lot of questions in the forums regarding DJ Shadow’s contributions to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and the track’s availability, so I wanted to take a moment to share some additional information regarding those two items.

When we set out to create a soundtrack for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, we knew we wanted to include a remix on the soundtrack, but at that time we were still unsure which direction we wanted to go creatively. In the days and discussions that followed, we tossed around a number of musicians, with one name remaining at the top of our list throughout the entire process – Josh Davis a.k.a. DJ Shadow. Josh is extremely well known for his work as an unbelievable musician, producer and DJ, but he is also an insanely gifted collaborator who has worked with an amazing number of talented artists throughout his career (Cut Chemist, Radiohead, Mos Def, Keane, and Kool Keith just to name a few). Needless to say, it was very apparent to us early on that he would be a perfect fit to create a remix from the incredible work of our composer Greg Edmonson.

But enough of my rambling, as a make-good on our demo issue, we wanted to give you the opportunity to listen to the track and let us know what you think (I hope you like it as much as we do):

Uncharted: The El Dorado Megamix by DJ Shadow
Music composed by Greg Edmonson
(p) 2007 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
(c) 2007 SCEAI Music [BMI]
All Rights Reserved

While the DJ Shadow track is available for download here Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – the Official Soundtrack will be live on iTunes on Nov. 20th with a digital booklet available. DJ Shadow’s Uncharted: The El Dorado Megamix will be also available on the soundtrack, so please make sure you go to iTunes on Nov 20th and grab a copy! While you’re there, make sure you check out the Insomniac Games “Full Moon Show” Podcast – I love those guys 8-)!

Hello, it’s Ryan again and I have some exciting news about Lair’s music.

First, it was announced last week that the soundtrack for Lair received a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Video Game Award nomination for best Original Score! Hopefully some of you have now unlocked and experienced all of the high-fidelity surround sound music in the Concert Hall within the game’s Extras, and can agree with the nomination. If you haven’t listened to the music in the Concert Hall, you’re really missing out—it’s fantastic in showcasing all of the nuances that John Debney so masterfully weaved into the score.

And second, for those of you that would like to be able to listen to the music outside of the game, we now have Lair’s official soundtrack available on Apple iTunes! Just search for “John Debney Lair” in the iTunes store and it should come right up. I think it’s amazing how different the music sounds outside of the game setting and how well it works on its own, and yet how reminiscent of the game it is and how much it adds to the gameplay experience. Happy listening, and hope you enjoy! (BTW, we’d love to hear about your favorite tracks, so please post comments below letting us know…)

Related Posts:
The LAIR Score: Part One
The LAIR Score: Part Two

Following up on my entry earlier this week, without walking you through the whole score, I wanted to call out a few tracks that stand out as prime examples of the principal themes contained in the score for LAIR. When you hear the elegant strains of the “Civilization” theme (Asylia theme), you’ll notice hints at the scope and power of the Asylian culture. It is high culture indeed, yet there is a dark side here.

“Crossing at Dawn-Bridge Battle” is an example of some of the more brutal and textural musical colors. Using primitive skin drums and ethnic woodwinds such as the “Makruna” and “Phillistine horn,” the ethnic side of Lair is revealed. This is a world we have only dreamed of, and for me, listening to the score, it comes to life. Musically, we must experience the majesty and scope of this world, and highlight its many sounds.

I could go on for quite a while describing the beauty of, for instance, Karen Han’s incredibly moving Erhu solo on “Mokai theme,” but that’s enough from me for today, so I’ll step back and let you the listener enjoy for yourself the amazing world of LAIR.

Composing the music for LAIR has been an incredible creative experience. The teams at Factor 5 and SCEA, gave me great freedom and latitude to develop something unique and perhaps unprecedented. Creating new, original themes for this primal world has been one of the most stimulating experiences of my career, something I will look back on and cherish. The overall tone of the work can best be described as operatic, ethnically rich, lyrical, elegant and, at the same time, tragic. From the heroic strains of Rohn’s theme, to the darkly powerful sister themes, Prophet/Diviner theme, we have a musical landscape both unique and glorious. Some of the finest vocalists and instrumentalists in the world are prominently featured in the score. It was a treat to be able to work with these great talents, and I’m sure you’ll appreciate the scope and the power of what we were trying to accomplish. It is ambitious to say the least, and we are so fortunate to have had the London and Royal symphony orchestras with their virtuosic and impassioned performance.

The score for this game is unique also in that it truly presents a large scale symphony in three acts. Quite simply, to give you a sense of the scale of what we did, the music alone in this game would fill three complete movies! Thus was the task; to create a work richly melodic, deeply passionate and savagely primal, all to fit right in with the theme, tone and dramatic elements of LAIR. With that said, I hope this audio clip gives you a taste of what’s to come in LAIR. I’ll be back later this week with another sample, but click below to hear “Diviner’s Theme,” which describes the treacherous, evil villain in the game. If Darth Vader had an evil cousin, this would truly be him. Enjoy!