Mixing Bits

In my last post I talked about how I had been listening to the Zelda Symphonic soundtrack that came with my copy of Skyward Sword. Well in lieu The Legend of Zelda having it's 25th anniversary it's not a big surprise that video game remixing communities would choose to celebrate this landmark as well. This brings up the OC Remix album 25 Year Legend.

The free album is a bit over an hour long, and it not only incorporates many of the most recognised tracks from the Zelda series; But it also coves a large range of styles, such as dubstep, techno, piano, and the traditional band sound. I'm enjoying it, and I think if you're reading this, you should too.



----CP Out----

A Legend of Twenty Five Years

I picked up my collectors copy of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on Sunday. Part of the package was a CD with orchestrated music from 25th anniversary Zelda symphony. While the total album length is a bit short, it's still a great extra that I thoroughly enjoy. Music plays an enormous role in how I feel and express myself through the motion graphics I make. Thus listening to tracks that sum up several games of a long running series is exhilarating.

Below is one of the shorter, and better, tracks from the anniversary album; Gerudo Valley. It's not my top favourite, but it's still truly up there for one of the best songs from the long running franchise.




---CP Out---

Backlog in HD

Back when I was still in high school, and the PS2 was the number one console on the market, I racked up a collection of games, stockpiling them in my room. That stockpile still exists today, and many of the titles I still haven't played. The reason? I could never get my dad off the TV, and the terrible glare from the living room windows. Thus my games were left to collect dust, and I ended up spending nearly all of my time on the family computer watching series after series of anime.

Today I have a backwards compatible PS3 and my own TV, so nothing has been keeping me from playing those games. Except myself, and modern games. By the time I had my own personal AV equipment I had already been bitten by the HD bug. Then as time went by, I became attached to PC games over console based ones. Thus my problem is I can't stand the old fuzzy graphics of all those PS2 titles. I've been playing off my backlog lately though.

There's a program called PCXS2 that literally functions like a PS2 for your computer. It emulates the functionality of the greatest last gen system, allowing you to pop a disc into the drive and boot up old games in HD resolutions. Granted the textures are still fuzzy, and not all games run smoothly. But it's nice to finally be playing off old games that I bought for top dollar back in the day.



---CP Out---

Sandbox Power Five

Wow, has it really been three years since Grand Theft Auto IV was released? I can't believe that much time has already passed. And now the sequel has been officially announced with a new in game trailer.

I'm very surprised by how much better they've been able to improve the look of the GTA series on this console generation. Here I thought it couldn't get much better with the available hardware. Just goes to show how adept developers are getting with squeezing everything they can out of today's consoles.



---CP Out---

So Two Soldiers Walk Into a Bar...

I watched this video yesterday and couldn't believe how awesome it was. A lot of the real voice talent for the characters were used in this video. And while I can't pin down weather or not those actors also played the physical roles, I have a pretty good feeling they did.



----CP Out----

Death of a Visionary

On October 5, 2011 Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind the enormously successful Apple corporation, died of Cancer.
As one of the few dedicated Mac & Windows users out there I am unbelievably sad to hear this news.



----CP Out----

The Fate of One Begins at Zero

Hmmm...
Some time ago I blogged about a story called "Fate/Stay Night". I talked about how the story and character's just wouldn't go away despite their age. That post was more than a year and a half ago, and here I am talking about it again. Why? Because the prequel story "Fate/Zero" has been made into a new anime series that started airing this week.

I'm more or less left in awe of how this is still going. Not to say I'm claiming it shouldn't, it's just that the whole thing seems unstoppable. The the first Fate story was a visual novel released back in 2004. It's now been six whole years, getting close to seven, and the franchise just doesn't show signs of slowing down. I'm simply just amazed, and now I'm wondering if it'll continue long enough to hit the decade mark.



---CP Out---