Im off the computer for a long while. The people who have contacted me due to affiliation old and new will be replied shortly, Im grounded for a bit of a while. So hopefully I’ll have access to a computer soon. Im sorry about this, just when ILM was getting back - After this everything should be going smoothly again.

IGN.com has done some research on the guitar controllers of this years games. Its a very interesting thing and the topic of the article caught my attention. 

October 26, 2007 - The rise of the music rhythm game has been meteoric, thanks in no small part to the success of the Guitar Hero franchise on PS2 and Xbox 360. Taking the plunge is a big investment, though, with expensive and bulky controllers creating a serious stopgap for potential buyers. This fall, two games are releasing that feature their own new guitar controllers, Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3. That puts a total of 3 guitar controllers on the market. IGN has now tried out the three of them in every situation possible. Here’s the rundown.

The Guitar Hero 2 Xplorer controller works with everything. We tried it out with Rock Band, Guitar Hero 2 and Guitar Hero 3 on Xbox 360 with no issues whatsoever. The only drawback to this controller, aside from its wired status and button placement, is that you can not activate any of the extra guitar effects featured in Rock Band. For that, you’ll need the Rock Band Stratocaster.

The Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul also works with everything and also can’t be used to activate the Rock Band special effects. We tried it on Rock Band and played through roughly 10 songs without any hitches. Of note here is that the Guitar Hero 3 PS3 controller can’t be used with Guitar Hero 2, even with the disc put into a PS3 that should make it backwards compatible.

The Rock Band guitar is another story. This controller, which features a number of extra fret board buttons and an effects switch, does not work with Guitar Hero 2 or 3. Cycling through the menus works just fine, but as soon as the game begins it all breaks down. Buttons don’t register at all and the game is impossible to play. In addition to the extra buttons, it has one other advantage while playing Rock Band. During extended “jam” sessions of the game where you can press any buttons you want to boost up your score, you don’t have to strum when using the Rock Band Strat. With the Guitar Hero 2 or 3 controllers, strumming is required.

You can’t buy Rock Band without getting the guitar in the bundle this holiday season, though you can get Guitar Hero 3 without the wireless Les Paul. To that end, it seems that the only real decision people who want both games have to make is whether to get the Les Paul or stick with the Guitar Hero 2 Xplorer.

We haven’t been able to test the PS3 Rock Band Stratocaster with Guitar Hero 2 or 3 just yet.

It should be noted that things may change before Rock Band is released as the game and, perhaps, the controller aren’t finalized. We went to Harmonix and RedOctane/Activision for official word.

Activision had no comment at the time of this publishing, though promised one in the near future as it is still being put together. A Harmonix Spokesperson gave this statement to IGN:

“Harmonix develops and bases all of our games, guitars and other peripherals on open standards established by platform manufacturers such as Microsoft and Sony. Rock Band is no exception and supports an open controller standard. Guitar controllers are like any other standard game controllers–the controller sends a signal back to the game depending on the buttons you push. If a third party game controller is based on open standards, then it should work with Rock Band as well. If certain controllers do not work with Rock Band, questions about those controllers should be directed to the peripheral manufacturer. In addition, we welcome any 3rd party software that wishes to support Rock Band guitars. If a 3rd party guitar / music game does not support the Rock Band guitar controller, questions regarding this should be directed to the game manufacturer.

The official Rock Band guitars and peripherals are custom designed to help players to blur the line between playing a game and being in a band. Harmonix has modeled the guitar on a Fender Stratocaster and engineered the strum bar so it feels like you are playing a real guitar. We have ten fret buttons–5 on the top and 5 on the bottom—and have even built in a five-way effects switch that interacts with the game. Obviously the players have a choice, but we truly feel that once they play Rock Band with the Stratocaster, they will not want to use any other guitar controller.”

IGN.com

Will this be the next  Guitar Hero? Only time will tell. Although compared to Guitar Hero 3’s song list of 70+, this song list is a bit bland.

October 26, 2007 - Rock Band is arriving in stores on November 20. Along with a guitar, mic, and drum kit, the $169.99 package includes 58 songs (45 licensed tracks, and 13 more that are unlockable). For months, Harmonix/MTV/EA has teased us with pieces of the track list. Today, we finally have the complete list of licensed tracks. Keep in mind that each week following the release of Rock Band, new downloadable songs will be made available. Among the DLC is the entire Who’s Album “Who’s Next,” Metallica’s “One,” and eighteen songs by The Grateful Dead.

1960s

• Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter”

1970s

• Aerosmith “Train Kept a Rollin’”*
• The Who “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
• Boston “Foreplay/Long Time”
• Mountain “Mississippi Queen” (cover)
• The Police “Next to You”
• David Bowie “Suffragette City”
• Black Sabbath “Paranoid” (cover)
• Blue Oyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper”
• The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop”
• Deep Purple “Highway Star”
• KISS “Detroit Rock City”
• Molly Hatchet “Flirtin’ With Disaster”
• The Outlaws “Green Grass & High Tides” (cover)
• Sweet “Ballroom Blitz” (cover)

1980s

• Rush “Tom Sawyer”*
• Bon Jovi “Wanted Dead or Alive”
• The Clash “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
• Faith No More “Epic”
• Pixies “Wave of Mutilation”
• R.E.M. “Orange Crush”
• Iron Maiden “Run to the Hills” (cover)

1990s

• Foo Fighters “Learn to Fly”
• Metallica “Enter Sandman”
• Nirvana “In Bloom”
• Stone Temple Pilots “Vasoline”
• Weezer “Say It Ain’t So”
• Smashing Pumpkins “Cherub Rock”
• Radiohead “Creep”
• Beastie Boys “Sabotage”
• Hole “Celebrity Skin”
• Garbage “I Think I’m Paranoid”
• Soundgarden “Black Hole Sun”

2000s

• The Hives “Main Offender”
• Queens of the Stone Age “Go With the Flow”
• The Strokes “Reptilia”
• Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”
• OK Go “Here It Goes Again”
• Nine Inch Nails “The Hand That Feeds”
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”
• Red Hot Chili Peppers “Dani California”
• Coheed & Cambria “Welcome Home”
• Fallout Boy “Dead on Arrival”
• The Killers “When You Were Young”
• New Pornographers “Electric Version”

Unlockable Tracks

• Bang Camaro “Pleasure (Pleasure)”
• Twelve more yet to be revealed

IGN.com

This looks like a fun game, never really played or even heard of the game Cross Gate. I looked it up and it seemed to have a lot of good feedback, hopefully this will be as good.

October 22, 2007 - Today OnNet USA announced it is bringing Square Enix’s free-to-play massively-multiplayer online game Concerto Gate to North America. Available in Asian territories since last spring, Concerto Gate is a sequel to 2001’s Cross Gate.

OnNet describes Concerto Gate as an “exciting MMORPG that is easy to play and is presented in a cute style.” The game boasts a feature called a “terra-generating” system that constantly alters the environment’s topography. Players can dig into the earth to mine for minerals. Depending on interaction with other players, forests can be destroyed and mountains can be shaped. Changes to the terrain will occur over several weeks.

In traditional RPG fashion, enemies are encountered randomly as players explore the game world

Concerto Gate

“This endeavor is very meaningful at every level for all parties involved,” says Kevin Kim, CEO of OnNet. “It is a marriage of OnNet USA’s expertise of publishing micro-transaction based games and Square Enix’s production of groundbreaking titles. I guarantee you will like Concerto Gate.”The MMO is tuning up for a release in the first half of 2008.

Source: IGN.com

I, Ben, am going to be off on gigs with the band. I won’t have access to the computer and if I did it’d be only for a limited amount of time. So starting Monday, News will be updated, Gallery script will be demo’d. Ilovemuffins.net will be back better than before!

So Sony finally decides to make a price cut and add a new model? Very few of us are even lucky enough to have a PS3, so I guess this “new model” might change that.

October 18, 2007 - The new, much-rumored U.S. version of the $400 40 GB PlayStation 3 will be available in retail stores as early as Nov. 2, Sony Computer Entertainment of America president Jack Tretton confirmed today.

Industry watchers have been predicting the new model’s emergence for weeks, and Tretton made it official in an interview with the Reuters financial news service today. The model has already made its way to Europe and Japan.

“I think the educational curve is starting to be broached with the general consumer,” Tretton told Reuters, when asked about his expectations for the PS3 through the end of the year. The system lags far behind the Xbox 360 and the Wii in sales.

In addition to the new, cheaper model (which will not be backwards-compatible with PlayStation 2 games), Sony also plans to cut the price of the existing 80-gigabyte version from $600 to $500.

Source: IGN.com

I remember the first time I layed my hands a copy of Perfect Dark Zero. I was amazed at how good one of the first games for the 360 could be. Many fans of Dark Zero will absolutely love this news!

October 15, 2007 - Many were disappointed with the Xbox 360 launch game Perfect Dark Zero. After being out of the game for five years, a lot of gamers felt Joanna had lost some of her engaging gameplay and wasn’t quite as attractive as a “next-gen” vixen should be. The game did sell well, though, which may give credence to rumors that are floating around the Internet that shed light on a possible Perfect Dark 2.

According to Indian site GameGuru, Rare is busy working up a sequel to the original Nintendo 64 game. While the article is posted in broken English and cites only “sources,” it does say that the sequel will be a darker take on Joanna Dark and will introduce a morality system where the choices players make branch the storyline. The plot will apparently be unveiled entirely through the player’s perspective without cut scenes.

GameGuru says an official announcement will be made late next year. IGN contacted Microsoft for comment but was greeted with the standard “Microsoft does not comment on rumors and speculation” line.

Source: IGN.com

Guitar Hero I & II became big hits on the Playstation 2. Hell, when Red Octane released Guitar Hero II on the 360 with better graphics and new songs - it put people in awe. What does Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock have in store for us, other than 70+ songs and a kick ass guitar design?

October 15, 2007 - Interscope Records is giving fans what they’ve always asked for from a downloadable song pack. Those who pay the extra cash to download songs have hoped for the day when they could also have a regular version of the track along with the game version. That’s now a reality with the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Companion Pack.

Set for release on October 23, just a week before the launch of Guitar Hero III, the Companion Pack includes select songs from Activision’s latest game and three exclusive songs. The CD comes with a download code that can be entered on Xbox Live Marketplace for access to three additional Guitar Hero III songs.

Soundtrack

• “Miss Murder” by AFI
• “Kool Thing” by Sonic Youth
• “3’s and 7’s” by Queens of the Stone Age
• “Cherub Rock” by Smashing Pumpkins
• “Slither” by Velvet Revolver
• “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour
• “Prayer for the Refugee” by Rise Against
• “Devil Went Down to Georgia” by Charlie Daniels (Steve Ouimette rendition)
• “Guitar Hero III Intro” by Slash

Bonus DLC

• “Carcinogen Crush” by AFI
• “Tina” by Flyleaf
• “Putting Holes in Happiness” a Marilyn Manson song remixed by Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The Guitar Hero III: Companion Pack retails for $13.98. It’s unknown if the bonus tracks will be made available for later download on Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network.

Source: IGN.com

Earlier this week Square Enix confirmed that they are working on a new title for the Nintendo Wii, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land will be released in Japan some time during March 2008. The game is going to be released as Wii Ware (Wii Software in the UK), with that said the game is going to be downloadable at a cost of 1500 Wii Points.

Square Enix have called the game a “Country Building RPG” the aim of the games to build up your own country, however nothing other than that has been said.

Source: Final Fantasy Rebirth

This is probably really exciting for all you .hack//G.U fans! IGN.com brung us this amazing update/article!

October 12, 2007 - Bang Zoom! Entertainment, a leading full-service audio post production company and producer of original entertainment content, recently completed an extensive array of English ADR (Audio Dialogue Recording), editing and final mixing for Volumes 2 and 3 of the acclaimed .hack//G.U. trilogy of video games for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system from NAMCO BANDAI Games America, Inc. Both games are currently available in retailers nationwide.

With a global market for new titles, particularly between North America and Japan, expert localization services are now a critical component of game development. Bang Zoom! Entertainment has brought to bear an arsenal of talent and services used widely in the anime arena for new RPG game titles (many based on anime and manga series) slated for domestic release.

NAMCO BANDAI Games America approached Bang Zoom! Entertainment to work on the .hack//G.U. series after hearing of the facility’s reputation for providing superior ADR and localization services for hundreds of well-known anime titles. It retained the company to develop, record and mix a new English soundtrack for the .hack//G.U. series - a sprawling project as each game possessed more than 6,500 lines of dialogue - but it was all completed in a scant six weeks.

.hack//G.U. encompasses three volumes based on a popular anime and manga series set amidst a fictional online role playing game in the future. The two new PlaySstation 2 titles have been highly anticipated following the critical acclaim of the first edition. Following the premise of the animated series, players again return to the fictitious Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) setting called “The World” to continue protagonist Haseo’s journey as he and his friends look to escape from what has become a digital trap filled with dungeons and monsters.

NAMCO BANDAI Games America producer Masahiro Knittel flew to Los Angeles from Northern California and ensconced himself at Bang Zoom!’s studios to advise the team throughout the recording and mixing process. Bang Zoom! Co-producer Mami Okada interfaced closely with Knittel and strong rapport quickly developed that helped facilitate completion.

“I was immediately impressed with the professionalism and high quality of voice over production of Bang Zoom!, and I knew that my project was in good hands,” Knittel says. “ADR director, Tony Oliver, and I quickly developed a close producer-director relationship in the studio, which I believe really strengthened the process of recording, resulting in very convincing performances by each of the actors. I thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone at Bang Zoom!’s studio, and I doubt you’ll find a more friendly and accommodating environment to work in. I am very pleased with the results of the studio recordings. These guys are on the top of my list when considering future ADR projects.”

Work commenced as a vast collection of the original Japanese dialogue was delivered, checked for quality and organized into a cohesive format. Sound engineer Jeff Prosser explains, “A huge part included putting all the Japanese files into Pro Tools for easy reference. We would refer to these files regularly for comparison in order to get the correct emotions or intensity from the English voice actors. It became a roadmap for the entire project.”

Corresponding video elements were also delivered as Quicktime and Matroska (Kodak) files, which were then transferred into a Final Cut Pro editing suite as a single continuous video file with an all important streaming time code to be used for script timing.

Critical was that the new English dialogue sync exactly to the movements of each character’s mouth without changing the meaning or context of the original Japanese. “The key was to make it sound natural,” says project ADR Director Tony Oliver, himself a renowned voice actor best known for his portrayal of Rick Hunter on the famed Robotech anime series. “Sometimes the rhythm of the speech must be altered a little to fit, but the meaning of what is said must always remain true to the original intent. That can be challenging and often requires substituting words and altering syntax until it seems natural. Each of the voice actors also adds their own rhythm and personality.”

To convincingly achieve the key role of Haseo, Bang Zoom! brought in noted voice actor Yuri Lowenthal, who performed on the original .Hack video game as well as an array of other game and anime productions including Afro Samurai, Bleach, Final Fantasy XII, and several Naruto game titles. All of the recording was done sequentially, according to how the actual game unfolds, so each actor understood how the plot evolves and could tighten their performances in-line and understand the motivations required for each scene. Recoding used tried and true Avalon 737SP pre-mics and Neumann U87 microphones.

“The biggest challenge with this title was the sheer amount of dialogue,” recalls Oliver. “It was way more than a conventional narrative because of different outcomes possible with each scene based on moves the player makes. But convincing performances must be recorded for each outcome. The difference with video games is that the dialogue for each resolution must be performed and mixed in such a way to preserve the continuity of the entire game. It’s critical for there to be the same intensity and emotion in each of the lines spoken. I think we definitely achieved that with this project.”

Time constraints for the project were very tight and Bang Zoom! chief engineer Patrick Rodman began mixing completed tracks as ADR sessions continued to progress. All three of Bang Zoom! Entertainment’s mix/ADR rooms were used simultaneously for .hack//G.U. “I level matched each of the over 5,000 newly recorded files by ear then began processing the dialogue, which included matching the new dub with the same effects and vocal treatments present in the original. Mixing was done entirely in Pro Tools using a Digidesign Control 24 console.” Rodman also meticulously balanced and matched EQ, reverbs and pitching using various Pro Tools and Wave plug-ins. Rodman, who has been with Bang Zoom! for 8 years, was well-suited to work on the .hack//G.U. series, having worked previously at Monterey Post where he contributed to the soundtracks of several Warner Bros. animated titles including Pinky & The Brain, Batman, and The Animaniacs.

“As games become more sophisticated the players and fans demand a more convincing and compelling level of acting,” concludes Eric P. Sherman, President of Bang Zoom! Entertainment. “Likewise, because .hack//G.U. is based on a popular anime series, there must be synergy between the two and a higher quality of skill is required to do that. We are now applying our expertise gained from working on numerous anime titles to a new range of games that require localization for domestic release. .hack//G.U. was a very successful project, completed on a tight schedule, and we look forward to fans reveling in the new adventures and new English soundtrack the game presents.”