Top 10 Soundtracks

In about a week I’m going to be going to Video Games Live.  For those of you who don’t know, Video Games Live is a concert that performs famous video game music.  You can look at it here.  I am extremely EXTREMELY pumped for this.  Not only am I a lover of games, but also of soundtracks in general.  It’s what most of my music collection is comprised of.  And lest you think that the music being played here is Mario music, think again.  Game music has come a long way from the original 8-bit glory, and now often requires full orchestras to perform them.

So while I wait in insane anticipation, I figure I’d do a Top 10 (10!) list of memorable music pieces from the games I love.  Sure, I could do my favourite full soundtracks in general, but there are those songs and pieces from games that I listen to over and over again and they deserve attention too.  Rules!  I will try to keep it limited to one song per game.  The song has to be in-game, so songs like "Still Alive", which were made for the game but weren't actually in the game, don't make it.  Most of these will be obscure adventure games, and there is actually no particular order to them as I just add them as I think of them, soooooo...

Something not to do with gaming at all

Sure, on the surface, this doesn't LOOK like a gaming related thing, but the main reason I started this blog was to have a distraction from the intensity (the awesome sort of intensity) from my rehearsals.  And it's my blog.  So I get to choose what goes on it, SCHMEEEEEEEEHHHH.

This is my show.  It is serious and intense and probably the most important thing I've done with my life to date.  If you check out the media section of the page you can see me, an actor, stuttering my way through an interview.  Enjoy!

http://thebenchtheatre.com/wonderful/

More adventure gaming goodness to come tonight!

Grim Fandango

Well, it’s getting down to crunch time for my show, which means that there’s about 50 million percent more stress and so I’ve been escaping to more nostalgic games to calm my nerves.  And Grim Fandango is pretty darned good at providing laughs for me in an otherwise panic stricken phase.

Heavy Rain

Not a lot of people really like Heavy Rain.  I am not one of those people.  The game is an odd and unique little number and I ate up every moment of it.  It came out last year and I played it last year, but recently I got the chance to play it again and thought hey, why not talk about it again?  Because I just can't shut-up about games I love.

Top 6 Favourite Opening Cinematics

Eh, I'll get around to doing another review eventually, I'm currently slogging my way through Ghostbusters and would rather actually attempt to finish the game before reviewing it entirely.  For now, another list!  Games have become much more cinematic in recent years.  I personally love cinematics in games.  It lets the game progress in terms of story and let's you sit back and enjoy it.  It also helps to heighten the atmosphere and emotion of the experience.  Sometimes it's one that cuts away and makes you feel like you're watching a movie, sometimes the cinematics are incorporated into the game itself.

But for me, when I'm remembering cinematics it's often the very first opening sequence that I remember the most.  And they are incredibly important.  They establish just what kind of a story and game you're about to get into, and they're often the key things that initially hook me in.  My favourite games almost all hooked me just on the opening sequence alone, whether it was because of the gorgeous graphics, epic or mysterious atmosphere, sweeping soundtrack or all three put together.  They made me want to play more to discover just what was going to happen.  So I thought I'd put up my five favourite (so far) opening cinematics that I could watch over and over again:

Top 5 Most Frustrating Moments in King's Quest 5

Well, it had to come eventually.  I love lists.  I love making things in list form.  So I figured it was time to make a Top 5 list.  Plus I haven’t really been playing games lately but still want to talk about them in some way.  Well, since I’ve been mentioning the Sierra games quite a bit in my posts, it seems only fitting: 

Top 5 Most Frustrating Moments in King’s Quest 5: