Composers in games are always the bloody bridesmaids. While Kojima, Clifford Bleszinski the Third and Shigeru Miyamoto lap up all the credits, complimentary hookers and free mini muffin baskets, the men and women behind their games' epic music go unnoticed.
Steven Spielberg famously said that composer John Williams' score in Jaws was responsible for 50% of the movie's success. And when you consider the iconic tunes from Super Mario Bros. or Shadow of the Colossus' sweeping score, it's hard to underestimate the impact a well composed soundtrack can have on a title. That's why we're giving some of gaming's finest composers the long overdue recognition they deserve.
Everyone knows about Max Payne taking all its best ideas (alright, one good idea) from the Matrix. But there have been many more games over the years that have taken their inspiration from Tinsel Town’s finest cinematic output. And when we say inspiration, we actually mean they broke out the tracing paper and copied these films' best scenes or stars almost exactly. And you know what? We’re thankful, because the nearly all of the
We can just about understand the way things used to be. When games came on cartridges, the only way you could play a sports game with the correct player names was to either type them all in yourself (which took hours), or buy the newest licensed version. But things have changed.
The advent of DLC has meant that all games could, in theory, be updated via a patch downloaded from the internet. This could either be for free (like the
The original Call of Duty went on sale on XBLA this week, bringing the game that started it all six long years ago to consoles for the first time. Lucky for you, we just uncovered a strategic stockpile of Call of Duty videos going back to the series’ inception in 2003. Won’t you come for a spin with us in our videomatic time-bender and watch the series evolve before your very eyes?
Unsung, underrated and unbelievably good. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.