Game Music 4 All full site redesign

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It’s been nearly five years since a website I run, gamemusic4all.com, has seen a cosmetic change. Back then it would have been impossible to predict what path the site would be going down all these years later. Now, the latest cover art from a weekly featured artist graces the page in it’s full glory, simple […]

Feature article on Game N Train – The history of Kirby’s Adventure and music of Jun Ishikawa & xoc

I’ve got a new “Press A to Listen” feature article over on gamentrain.com today! Press A to Start is a monthly series providing a quick course in the history, music, and influence of classic games. This month, read up on the history of NES classic Kirby’s Adventure while enjoying the music of Jun Ishikawa (composer for Kirby games) and talented multi-instrumentalist Xoc!

Feature article on Game N Train – Memoreview: A Look At Classic Arcade Game ‘BurgerTime’

My latest Memoreview is up. You will laugh. You will learn. Take a trip back with me into the annals of arcade history for my review of BurgerTime for the Arcade and NES.

Feel free to contact me via Twitter, @genoboost, or via any means on the contact page.

Also, follow my website Game Music 4 All via social networks for the latest video game music and news. Facebook and Google+

Feature article on Game N Train – Press A To Listen: The Bad Dudes of Chrono Trigger

 

The first in my monthly music series, Press ‘A’ to Listen, for gamentrain.com, is now live! Read up on the history and lasting influence of Chrono Trigger and Yasunori Mitsuda (composer for Chrono Trigger). I also take a look at the artists in the Bad Dudes Music collective, who were directly influenced by the game in their creation of the 2009 album Chronotorious.

Give the article a read, and tell me what you think. If you have suggestions for future game music or artists I should cover, definitely let me know!

Feel free to contact me via Twitter, @genoboost, or via any means on the contact page.

Feature Article on Game N Train – Memoreview: A nostalgic retro review of Top Gear Rally for the Nintendo 64

My first humor feature is now live on Game N Train. It’s the first in my Memoreview series.

Read Memoreview: A look back at the forgotten N64 classic Top Gear Rally

Also leave a comment on gamentrain.com, on twitter @genoboost, or here to let me know what you think.

Guest Feature for 1 More Castle – Reboot This: Primal Rage

I’ve had the idea for this article in my mind for a long time, so I’m really excited to find a home for this article. In my guest feature for 1 More Castle, Reboot This: Primal Rage, I take a humorous look at why I hope game developers are far from done rebooting retro fighting game series.

Give it a read, and be sure to leave a comment over there about what you think and what types of games you would want to see make a return in the next generation of gaming.

Always Looking For New Opportunities

I have recently become part of some great opportunities in both the fields of game writing as well as journalistic writing that I am so passionate about. Unfortunately I can’t reveal much yet, but by the end of this month I hope to be able to show off some of the work I have been up to.

Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m not open to more work. As always, feel free to contact me, and perhaps I can help on your upcoming project or website as well!

*Image from Capcom’s Streets of Rage for SNES, no reason why.

Video Game Magazine Memories: Game Buyer

Isn’t that just the most boring title for any video game magazine? Imagine looking at an issue on the shelf at the supermarket, “Game Buyer? Hey, I buy games! This must be the magazine for me.”

With such a boring moniker, it’s hard to imagine this was the rebirth of the far less boring Ultra Game Players magazine. UGP ended after reaching over a hundred issues, finding a sometimes frustratingly random, but also often funny, entertaining, or just strange. Unlike the storied legacy of UGP, Game Buyer lasted four games total. I own all four of them. 

It was like UGP did a hard reset. Even though much of the staff of UGP remained to work on Game Buyer, this new magazine seemed to take a more serious tone. They straight cut any humor, and doing away with fluff like reader mail or writer bios where the artists might go trying to stick in their ridiculous jokes. What remained was a magazine which essentially offered only previews, and reviews.

Some of the things they did back then were pretty innovative on the review side of things. They included the MSRP in each games review, and included reviews of each system version of a game. Not bad considering they hacked the price of Game Buyer from the then VG magazine standard of $4.99 down to $2.99 after only two issues. 

The showy facade of rebranding faded after that price drop. Soon the reader mail section was back, and with it many of the writers strange habits. Unfortunately is was way too late for that.

It’s clear in retrospect that a magazine that needed to rename itself, slash it’s price was nearing its final breath. It’s unfortunate that before this magazine scattered to the winds, the time would have been better used to churn out a couple more issues of UGP rather than a handful of inconsequential issues of some thing called Game Buyer.

I imagine that if Game Buyer had found a way to survive, it would have easily just turned back into UGP (which was itself a rebranding of Game Player).

They aren’t called Squaresoft anymore? Some feelings about Square-Enix

I used to enjoy Square games immensely, and got way hyped about every new series and offshoot of a series they would announce.In the Square heyday of Final Fantasy VI through IX, alongside other amazing efforts out of Square during that span I was all in on that company. They were on the status of Nintendo to me. They could do no wrong. I could write thousands of words on some their forgotten efforts like Einhander and Brave Fencer Musashi. There were piles of original and innovative content being produced by them in the PSX days. Along with all that inovation, you could always rest your hat on the quality production of Final Fantasy as the cornerstone of console RPGs. 

I never particularly felt betrayed by Square. I can’t pinpoint a moment when I thought, alright Squaresoft, you’ve gone too far, drop the gunsword before someone doesn’t get shot.

It was actually a very gradual process. There was a time when I would drool and ogle images of upcoming Square games in the latest issue of EGM, the way I do now for Nintendo or WayForward produced titles.

Eventually some mediocre games began to trickle out, so I stopped following this or that series. The next thing I know, Square has merged with Enix and I don’t want a single game from either company. 

That’s not to say that Square has been terrible ever since I stopped caring. They still have great games, but their percentages of quality product have dropped off.

Shout outs specifically to The World Ends With You for the great world/music/battle system that made me remember how incredible you can still be. Although I do expect great work from Jupiter, the guys who created the classic GBC Pokemon Pinball.

Also props to Theatrhythm, for knowing so deeply one of the reasons we pick up Final Fantasy games, the music. This game also gave me the energy and nostalgia to wade through the morass of thoughts I have about Square and Final Fantasy.

I think the works of Square will be a hot topic among overly opinionated gamers for some time. I haven’t even began to cover all my thoughts on the subject yet.

Power Up Review: Mario’s Mushrooms

The Super Mushroom*, one of gaming’s greatest icons. Unfortunately, this classic middleman to the good power-ups has been cast down into the pits of disgrace.

The Super Mushroom came onto the scene back in the original Super Mario Bros back in ‘85. Back when that game was kicking my ass, the Super Mushroom was a dear friend, helping me stave off death for just a few moments more. 

For all you kids who can regain health just by standing behind a crate, you have no idea how valuable being able to take one extra hit can be. 

Unfortunately, the humble mushroom is no longer the powerhouse it once was. Once SMB3 came onto the scene, there became frequent ways to bypass the mushroom. Just blow by that thing and get to the real shit like the frog suit!

In today’s power-up mad world, I give the Super Mushroom, D. It should fail, but dammit, it tried hard enough to pass.

*Yes, I know it was originally called the Magic Mushroom in the NES guide. Think I don’t read?