Music from Mirror's Edge Available

One of the major titles covered at this year's E3 was EA's upcoming MIRROR'S EDGE. The official trailer recently released contains some entrancing music that many have been asking about. The developers have made a "special mix." This mix seems to be a cut and paste job of several different remix versions. They are very short bits added end to end to make the total track length about 1:55. Before you download the mix, you should check out the trailer here. The game looks beautiful and is slated for a late 2008 release.

Check the trailer at the official site here

(The vocals at the conclusion of the trailer certainly have a Imogen Heap vibe!)


Download the remix here.


Despite apparent messages from the developers to the contrary the piece in the trailer does indeed seem to be a remix of SHINE by ALCORUS. You can listen to the original here as provided by IMEEM.

Since the purchasing options of Amazon.com and iTunes seem to be defunct, perhaps DICE has bought the rights for the music outright.

Enjoy!

Exclusive Audio from HUXLEY by Kevin Riepl

We are happy to present 3 audio clips from KEVIN RIEPL's original score for the upcoming massively multiplayer online first person shooter, HUXLEY. Among Kevin Riepl's growing portfolio, he has laid down the scores for huge games such as GEARS OF WAR, UNREAL TOURNAMENT III, SOUL OF THE ULTIMATE NATION, and is working on GEARS OF WAR 2.

Check out the clips here.

First Look and Listen to RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS 2

Get your first peep at the sequel to the hit video game RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS.

The teaser trailer for RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS 2 is pretty short, but from the looks of it, this one is going to carry on the excellence of the first game...complete with the electronic-grunginess of the first game's score.

Not sure who wrote the score for the first Vegas game nor is info. on Vegas 2 readily available. Of course big-time names like AMON TOBIN and BILL BROWN have been long associated with the Tom Clancy: Splinter Cell and Rainbox Six franchise, so perhaps its one of them.

RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS 2 hits shelves in March 11, 2008!

Your can pre-order yours now:

for Xbox360

for Playstation 3

for PC

Favorite Recent Game Score

There have been quite a few good-to-great games and game scores released lately and there are more on the way! Too bad we just can't wait any longer to post the question to you. Whether you play the games or not, what is your favorite recent game score? BIOSHOCK? MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE, HALO 3, HEAVENLY SWORD, LAIR or something else?

VOTE IN THE NEW POLL HERE

Playable Cinema - The Fusion of Gaming and Movies

As I finished up both my review of BIOSHOCK and my interview with the composer of the game's score, GARRY SCHYMAN, that phrase "playable cinema" kept running through my mind. That is where the gaming and film industries have been moving toward for a number of years now. With the release of games like BIOSHOCK and perhaps even moreso, HEAVENLY SWORD, we might just be there. I can't say that I've ever seen any game like the visuals of HEAVENLY SWORD or been as enveloped by a games atmosphere like BIOSHOCK. I've been addicted to the short animated back-story shorts presented at the HEAVENLY SWORD site. I've been swept up in the depth of 2KGames' official sites for BIOSHOCK. Both of these games and LAIR as well, have created new, detailed worlds, that are as interesting as the games themselves. For as long as movies have been made, audience members have said to themselves "I wish I could do that!" ...and the day has come where they can.

If you look at the history of it - the two mediums have been on a collision course for decades. We first saw game-spin-offs of movies and more recently movie spin-offs from games. As processing power continues to exponentially increase, the merging of the two seems only natural...if not inevitable. I, for one, am ecstatic at seeing this media evolution continue. As I've remarked elsewhere, with the storage, bandwidth, and processing power available for game development ever on the increase, this affords game producers what they need to hire grade-A composers and grade-A orchestras for these game scores. And we won't even speak about the budgets. They certainly have plenty of bucks now-days.

Let's not underestimate the power of symphonic music in these games. While the visuals cause our jaws to drop, just how much less impacting would the game play be without the contributions of a MICHAEL GIACCHINO, INON ZUR, or JESPER KYD? As it's been said before "Audiences will put up with bad picture, but they won't put up with bad sound." 128-bit+ graphics with 16-bit sound would be unforgivable. So as we are witness to "playable cinema" emerging before our very eyes, I hope you'll join in the anticipation for where this will lead musically. If the music matters within film and it matters within a game - just how much more when the two become one? As gross as it sounds...my ears salivate at what's to come!

Heavenly Sword: The Music by Nitin Sawhney

Ok. So there has been a lot of coverage for John Debney's LAIR around here, but there is more going on for the SONY PLAYSTATION 3 than just LAIR. The second game that has got me eyeballing a PS3 for the first time is HEAVENLY SWORD.

This game is truly amazing to behold, but providing the musical texture is composer NITIN SAWHNEY. For this project he blends orchestral and electronic elements to give HEAVENLY SWORD a distinctive sound.

The official game site has been releasing MAKING OF episodes for a few weeks now (along with some pretty entertaining back-story episodes as well). You can even download all of the episodes in 720p! Between this site and Bioshock's, these game sites are doing a better job ofm not only generating hype, but providing interesting insight into the game's story even better than the film studios for their projects. The fifth installment of the "making of" series focuses on NITIN SAWHNEY's contribution to the epic project.

I'm trying hard to secure an interview with the composer, but its been no easier than getting one with John Debney. Keep your gaming-fingers crossed and stay tuned for more on the score for HEAVENLY SWORD.

Enjoy the feature!