Music News, Music Features

Turn it up to eleven

The music game genre may have flopped like a manufactured boy band, but Ubisoft’s guitar guide game Rocksmith has shredded out a niche all of its own. As such, it’s no surprise to see the series make a comeback with Rocksmith 2014 Edition, which is set to release on the PlayStation 3 later this year. Much like its...

Ear candy

The Last of Us is not only shaping up to be a feast for the eyes, but also for the ears. Naughty Dog has continued its behind-the-scenes mini-series, this time pointing its camera at legendary composer Gustavo Santaolalla. In the video, the musician talks a little about his guitar teacher quitting when he was just a child – not because...

Use them as a coaster instead

If you were planning on cranking up your classic copy of Blink 182’s unforgettable Take Off Your Pants and Jacket through your brand spanking new PlayStation 4, you may be in for a shock – Sony has confirmed that its next generation console will not actually support audio CDs. The company revealed the snippet as...

Sounds of the underground

How do you transform BioShock’s harrowing art-deco universe into something infectious? Well, if you’re voice actor turned remix extraordinaire Eddie Bowley, you take its most famous sound bites and arrange them into beats so catchy that not even Ayn Rand could resist tapping her disco feet. ‘Only Man’ is a full...

The one that got away

Given the sheer amount of awards that Journey has scooped up over the past 12 months, we suppose it’s about time that the title stopped hogging the limelight. Despite being the first ever video game to be nominated for a Grammy award, Austin Wintory’s scorching score lost out to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ e

Secret gardens and synths

The Unfinished Swan is a blank canvas; an engrossing adventure open to interpretation and debate. It’s a title that’s defined by contrasts, be it the bold blobs of colour that paint your progression through the game’s otherwise vacant world, or the juxtaposed personalities of the protagonist and his counterpart, the...

Blimey

Clearly not content with the mass of awards that it’s already won, Journey has made history by becoming the first ever video game to be nominated for a Grammy award. The title’s scorching score – composed by Austin Wintory – is up for contention in the ‘Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media’ category. It’ll face off against...

Hum the bassline

Rockstar Games always selects the perfect tracks to accompany its trailers, and it made another bold choice with today’s hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V re-reveal. The funky jam at the heart of the footage is Stevie Wonder’s Skeletons, which was a 1987 hit off the Motown artist’s 21st studio album Characters. We’ve...

Massive attack

For all the satisfaction that comes alongside creating video games, there are times when it can be a gruelling occupation. Thankfully, the Kyoto-based studio behind the PixelJunk series has happened upon an innovative means of maintaining morale throughout the day. For the past six months, Q-Games has been using its lunch breaks to...

Real time

Kyoto-based developer Q-Games may be best known for its work on the PixelJunk franchise, but the studio has been quietly expanding its portfolio into rock and roll over the past couple of months. Designed as a distraction to keep morale high during hectic coding sessions, the studio has formed a trip-hop supergroup known as The Electric...

Download for free now

It surprised many when Sony shut down Studio Liverpool, formerly Psygnosis and developer of one of the most iconic game series on Sony's systems, WipEout. The most recent entry, WipEout 2048, is one of the best titles on Vita, but the fate of the franchise is unclear now that its driving force has been disbanded. For many,...

Rotten racket

You probably don’t want to be reminded of Slant Six’s diabolical third-person shooter, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. But on the off-chance that you actually enjoyed the squad-based spin-off (what’s wrong with you?), Sumthing Music has announced that it has finally launched the game’s official soundtrack. To be fair,...

Sounds like Death itself, supposedly

Sumthing Else Music Works and THQ have announced that the upcoming Darksiders II will be receiving its very own two-disc soundtrack for you to listen while you're not riding into battle and restoring mankind. The soundtrack will feature scores by Assassin's Creed and Hitman composer, Jesper Kyd, whose...

Like nails on a chalkboard

If you assumed Call of Duty couldn’t possibly get any more edgy, then you were wrong. Activision has announced that it has snapped up Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor to compose Call of Duty: Black Ops 2’s theme song. He will not produce the game’s entire soundtrack, however – that honour will go to Mass...

Hamauzu in attendance

Next week sees a concert of music from Final Fantasy hit Boston's Symphony Hall, with series composer Masashi Hamauzu set to appear too. Boston's Video Game Orchestra and Choir Força, conducted by Grammy-winner Arnie Roth, will take to the stage on 10th March at 8pm for an evening of music from the venerable Japanese RPG...

On the sea shore

DJ Deadmau5 has signed up to provide exclusive new tracks for upcoming music platformer Sound Shapes. According to the press release, Deadmau5 will create "a variety of exclusive new tracks" for the game, due out for Vita in 2012. We took the game for a spin back in September: our Sound Shapes preview tells you all you...

Elton, Dusty and Lionel

O Games' Get Up and Dance wants to give players of all age something they can shake their hips (or replacements) to, with the publisher announcing four new old tracks for the song's playlist. From Donna Summer's classic Hot Stuff — best known for its role in The Full Monty of course — to Lionel Richie's feel good song...

Get on the floor

Sony's intending to go up against the dancing behemoth that is Just Dance 3 with its own dancing game, Everybody Dance aka DanceStar Party in Europe, and here's the tracklist you'll be grooving to when the game launches later this year. There's the usual mix of classic and contemporary tunes, from Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas to...

Even a caveman could do it

Sound Shapes co-creators Jonathan Mak and Shaw-Han Liem recently sat down with the PS Blog to discuss the philosophy behind their game, and how its simplicity and style help it to work both as a quality platformer and an easy-to-use music maker. Players are given simple tools that instantly produce the building blocks of a...