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• Me and My Moogles: A Love Affair Ahead of its Time

  Every tick of my heart signals another second I'll never gain back. I've been spending an uncomfortable number of those ticks sitting here and contemplating the history, physiology, and behavioural habits of the Moogle species from Final Fantasy. There's a lot that still weirds me out about Final Fantasy being part of mainstream gaming—indeed, part of mainstream culture—but I've more or less adapted with one exception: I can't get over the fact that Moogles are now considered cuddly and cute by the world at large. I decided Moogles were adorable when I played Secret of Mana for the first time, though I didn't really get to know more about them until Final Fantasy VI, when I drafted Mog into my party as the head of Team Aryan (Mog, Sabin, Edgar, Celes). His Dance skill wasn't especially useful when I went up against Kefka's three-tiered pile of demons stapled together, but his crazy amount of hit points made him the ideal meat shield. I drew Mog on my schoolbooks, my bags, whatever cheap computer Paint program I could get a hold of. People wanted to know what kind of affliction in the head gave me my fondness for deformed cats. Read More... Posted Mar 12 2009, 08:11 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with no comments Filed under: final fantasy, final fantasy vi, retro, nadia oxford, secret of mana, mog, moogles

• Retro Horror: Canadian Game Prices

  The reign of the SNES was a troubling time for me. The deluge of great games was seemingly never-ending, but I wasn't quite old enough to buy my own crack (that would come with the next generation of systems). With my family, video games were very much a Sometimes treat. Here's the main reason why: The Canadian dollar has never been a strongman—except for a brief stretch of time last year when the US dollar finally tanked entirely and the Loonie vaulted over the Greenback. The US dollar has since recovered (and I've put away the noose I wove for myself; most of my employers are American, and my bank thought I was the butt of a cruel joke), but it's not as powerful as it was in 1995. So I dished out a lot of money for SNES games. God look back on the day when Nintendo announced it was sticking to cartridges for the N64, and have pity on my broken soul. Read More... Posted Mar 05 2009, 11:22 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: snes, rpg, final fantasy vi, retro, super nintendo, retail, nadia oxford, game prices, canada

• WTFriday: The Great Final Fantasy VI Breast Challenge

  I hope that Mackey will find it in his heart to forgive me for borrowing a “WTFriday” from him, but I'm afraid there is no other suitable phylum for that which I have recently...experienced. I admire people who set goals for themselves and follow through, as long as those goals don't involve killing, maiming, raping, or smashing kneecaps with a roque mallet. But I admit my ol' brain shuffled through a deck of mightily confused emotions when an Internet friend (the best kind of friend) told me about an online artist's recent project. See, this artist aims to draw every Final Fantasy VI boss character—male, female, neuter, and mechanical—with a plump pair of breasts. S/he has an admirable head start. Master Typhon? That's Mistress Typhon, you insolent pup. Death Gaze? Of course. How else is s/he going to keep that Bahamut magicite shard warm while gliding through frigid, blood-tinted skies? Phantom Train? Why the fuck not? The most humiliating aspect of this project lies not with the ambitious artist, but with me. My friend wasn't able to provide a name or web address, so I've been desperately looking for this project's home base. If I'm ever pulled in for a heinous crime, the Mounties are going to find the following Google searches on my computer: final fantasy vi+breasts final fantasy vi+tits final fantasy vi+tits+bosses final fantasy vi+project tits Read More... Posted Feb 06 2009, 09:56 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: snes, final fantasy vi, retro, art, breasts, fan stuff, game boy advance, nadia oxford, boobs, bosses

• The Best of Wintry Video Game Music

  When you live in something called "the snow belt," your tolerance for inclement weather wholly determines your sanity. We've gotten so much of the fluffy white stuff recently that traveling anywhere in my town now involves following a carved-out snow trench to its logical end, all while hoping you don't end up in another state or the fabled Canadas. But even with nature trying to snuff me out under a thick pillow of precipitation, I've gone through most of my life without hating this time of the year; in fact, winter-themed video game levels have always been a favorite of mine, despite their irritating qualities. And for some reason, they always seem to have great music--which I'd like to share with you today. Read More... Posted Jan 19 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: ost, music, final fantasy vi, super mario 64, donkey kong country, earthbound, bob mackey, soundtrack

• Nostalgia and Game Association

  I've been wondering recently if there's some substance behind game nostalgia besides fodder for Internet fights about how nothing will ever beat the original Legend of Zelda, evar. What I mean is, do you ever think about where you were when you played a certain game? Does visiting certain locations or experiencing the change of seasons remind you of the same? Do you count game nostalgia amongst valued memories like favourite vacation spots or the glorious spill that came with learning how to ride a two-wheeled bike for the first time? Pour example: Final Fantasy VI remains one of my favourite games. I first experienced it in the cold, rainy month of November, going into the crisp days of December and Christmas vacation (I was a little slower at RPGs back then). Even today, a rush of cold air can bring me back to my fifteen-year-old self, excited to get home and resume my long quest to reunite Celes with her friends and nurse the vague hope that I might knock Kefka from Chez Crazy. Read More... Posted Dec 19 2008, 11:51 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: bioshock, final fantasy vi, retro, nostalgia, nadia oxford

• Where are all the Post-Impressionist Videogames?

  Above is a video of de_vangogh, a custom Counter-Strike level made by famed CS mapmaker Nipper. It’s a rather interesting bit of work—look at the way the under-saturated, oil paint-like textures complement the use of Starry Night as a skybox. Crazy! Don’t misunderstand me; I don’t want to play Counter-Strike in a Van Gogh painting, because that doesn’t make any sense. I’m not even really saying that I want games to approach visual styles more vigorously, because all evidence says that things are getting better and better in that department. But looking at this it occurs to me that there aren’t any games that really look like this, which reminds me that despite all of the jumps in graphical fidelity, we still haven’t seen everything yet. After playing about a half-dozen gritty photo-real games in a row, it’s nice to have reassurances like this, and to then go look the comic book stylings of Super Turbo HD Remix or the sketch anime of Valkyria Chronicles to have it further reinforced. Where are the post-impressionist games? They’re coming, you can count on it. In the meantime, I’m going to sit here and dream one of my favorite dreams—that Square Enix finally gets around to remaking Final Fantasy VI in the painterly style of Yoshitaka Amano's concept art (there's a great example after the jump), with its bleak beauty and hand-drawn artifice the perfect foil to that game’s story of fragility and loss. Read More... Posted Nov 26 2008, 03:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: counterstrike, final fantasy vi, joe keiser, vincent van gogh, post impressionism

• Stupid Hero Names: Nobody Wants to Celebrate a Man Named "Squall."

  One of my other jobs involves keeping an eye on celebrities and writing about their lives. This means I have to find it in me to rejoice in the births of their badly-named babies. Hooray for Lady Sugar Papaya. She might not be as special and unique as the Blue Angels and Pilot Inspektors in her Academy, but surely she won't have to resort to affirming her individuality through the arts or academics. Video games, especially JRPGs, are pretty big on inoculating characters with a "Special!" booster before the game even begins. Names obviously define a person, but they're not a free pass to depth and wisdom. You have to grow into a name, even earn it in a way. If Cloud Strife is a deep and complex character (he's not) it's because of his trials and journeys, not because his name is more l33t than yours. I always liked Wild ARMS because the main characters were compelling despite the fact they were stuck with names obviously given to them by their parents and not mental hospital escapees. Jack. Rudy, Cecilia. I remember them well to this day and I have yet to think to myself, "Gee, those were great characters but too bad Rudy wasn't named Sir Puppy Tails the III. That would have added so much." Read More... Posted Nov 10 2008, 07:30 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: final fantasy vi, final fantasy vii, wild arms, nadia oxford, final fantasy viii, silly names

• On Renaming Characters: My Own Naughty Experience

  Mackey's post about re-naming RPG characters took me back to a special place. I admit I'm lazy about re-naming my characters these days, but there was a time when my habits made my parents fear for the monikers of their grandchildren. Actually, thinking about it, my mother mostly egged me on. I think there's some kind of karma going on for people who gave game characters swear-names. Recently I needed a video of Cloud in the Mako reactor at the start of Final Fantasy VII for a whimsical, memory-heavy blog post elsewhere. The only appropriate video had Cloud branded as "El Boner." Secret of Mana was my first Super Nintendo RPG. I named the girl "Bitch" because I'm creative and hilarious. After that, the the fate of each female character in subsequent RPGs was sealed. Nothing against the characters themselves. It was just tradition. Read More... Posted Oct 28 2008, 06:40 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: rpg, final fantasy vi, final fantasy iv, final fantasy vii, nadia oxford, secret of mana, characters, naming

• On Renaming Characters

  As part of my generally anal-retentive gaming habits, I never rename characters in RPGs.  In my eyes, anything other than the original, intended names would be sacrilege; even at the age of twelve, you could find me correcting the all-caps names of my characters in Final Fantasy III to a more sensible case setting. For me, it's always been about immersion. As creative as I can be, it just feels so wrong to go against the designers' original choices, even when I'm given the option to change those choices. Maybe watching my stepdad play through Final Fantasy II starring my family warped me somehow--after all, he made me Kain. When I'm given an array of ready-to-be-names blank slates, I typically don't get too wacky. The guys are typically named after me and my friends, while the single girl character (there's usually only one) is reserved for my current girlfriend or possible girlfriend-to-be (god willing). I'll admit that games like Earthbound, with relatively personality-free main characters, also fall into this habit of mine, as do games like Secret of Mana, where I learn that the characters have names years after the fact--and also that these names are very dumb. In the era of voice-acting, renaming characters is no longer the norm. The awkward, off-putting, just-chugged-a-bottle-of-NyQuil conversations of Final Fantasy X were made all the more creepy by the simple fact that the other characters could not say Tidus' name--after all, you might've changed it. Years later, Dragon Quest VIII handled this problem much better; the name you'd chosen for your character still appeared in the written dialogue, but characters would say things like "my boy" and "guv'nah" instead of the offending proper noun. Here, I could name my character "Bob" and not worry about the consequences. So where does everyone else fall on this issue? I can't be the only one who feels compelled to stick to the original names I'm given, no matter how asinine they may be. Read More... Posted Oct 27 2008, 08:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: final fantasy vi, earthbound, final fantasy iv, bob mackey, character names

• When Video Games Make Us Sniffle

  It's all right to cry. Crying takes the sad out of you. Anyone else remember Rosey Grier serenading us while wearing a very groovy collar? He taught us that it's okay to weep when we're feeling sad, because even big boys feel down in the dumps sometimes. Gamers have taken his song to heart, shuffling and sniffling when bad things happen to good game characters. Video games and emotional expression have shifted monumentally: our fathers didn't cry for Donkey Kong, doomed to fall four storeys and crack his skull open over and over like some simian Sisyphus. But according to Roger Moore, who reviewed the indigestable Max Payne in the Orlando Sentinel, gamers have never cried at a game's story, because game stories never give gamers a reason to cry. This, of course, is false: denying that gamers have ever cried means denying the River of Aerith, which was formed from the tears of RPG fans when--well, you know. I do have to admit that I'm hard-pressed to remember specific instances when a game's story made me weepy. Don't get me wrong, I bawl pretty easily, but mostly because of something that happened in a book ("Dammit Colour-Me-Elmo, why can't I stay in your lines? Sob sob!") or a movie. I know I'm the exception here, but  games just don't seem to touch me in the same way as often. Read More... Posted Oct 20 2008, 07:33 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 16 comment(s) Filed under: shadow of the colossus, final fantasy vi, mother 3, max payne, nadia oxford, game moves, sad games

• The End of Time and the Beginning of Fan Drama

  Recent videos of Chrono Trigger DS reveal the same game we aspired to marry thirteen years ago (has it been thirteen years? Holy crap, I could've done something useful like rear a thankless teenager) but the sharp among us have noticed...ch-ch-changes. Specifically, it looks like the in-game text has been altered a bit. This means it's possible Chrono Trigger DS will be receiving the Final Fantasy VI Advance treatment. This treatment, by definition, aspires to keep the charm of Ted Woolsey's original translation, but will still fill out text that had to be cut because of space issues or censorship. Personally, I'm not even sure what can be restored. The blossoming shitstorm has fanned my fascination for The Chrono Trigger Re-Translation Project, a project that's considered about as useless as using an umbrella to deflect a falling piano. Unlike most fan translations, the Chrono Trigger Retranslation Project website doesn't open up with an animated .gif of Woolsey burning at the stake. Regardless, its existence rubs me the wrong way because it's so unnecessary. The Internet is a toilet bowl brimming with Useless, but this little turnpike on the Information Highway really just gets to me. Even though the project managers acknowledge that Woolsey did an okay job translating Chrono Trigger under the circumstances, this little bit of smugness gets under my fingernails: [S]ome essence of the game was lost or altered, given Nintendo of America's censorship standards and the inability of the game to hold all the original text when translated to English. SNES-era RPGs were so gosh darn playable, but I think they also owe some of their longevity to great translation. Final Fantasy VI was dark and brooding and despite Woolsey's best efforts, I sometimes felt like I was out of the loop--and there were instances where the censorship dusted the in-game content as carelessly as kitty litter covers...you know. But Chrono Trigger is a shonen game. A boy versus a great evil. Great story, to be sure, but lacking in depth. And that was okay because the game wasn't trying to be deep. Read More... Posted Sep 12 2008, 07:48 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 10 comment(s) Filed under: final fantasy vi, chrono trigger, fandom, ted woolsey, nadia oxford, fan translations, chrono trigger ds, translators, drama

• Hurricane "Ike" and Other Dumb Associations

  The threat of Hurricane Ike is displacing some of my online friends, which displeases me. I would challenge Ike to fisticuffs, but, well, I have to...go over here now. I'd totally win, mind you. I just can't be bothered. I know hurricanes are serious business, and for good reason, but when I think of "Ike," I don't think of a hurricane. I think of South Park's floppy-headed Canadian baby who parrots profanity like a champion, or I think of Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radience and Radiant Dawn. So now the hurricane and Ike the swordsman have combined in my head and now I imagine the shrieking hurricane winds will sound like an athlete screaming "Ether!" Read More... Posted Sep 11 2008, 07:35 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: final fantasy vi, nadia oxford, south park, nature, fire emblem radiant dawn, shakespeare, setzer, fire emblem path of radience, ike, hurricane

• In My Fantasy World, There is a Final Fantasy VI Anime

  That's right. Back when I had a brief anime phase in college, which mysteriously coincided with a long sexual drought, I had strictly non-sexual fantasies of a Final Fantasy VI anime.  Two reasons: A.) Final Fantasy Unlimited was so bad that not even Japan wanted to see more of it, and B.) Final Fantasy VI's epic, operatic storyline that actually made sense (an important distinction) seemed perfectly tailored for serialized, animated fiction. Unfortunately, Square's forays into the world of non-interactive entertainment have been affronts to even the unholy god who allowed them to exist in this world to prolong the suffering of mankind. Thank whatever applicable deity for obsessed Japanese fans, who have the spirit and free time I lack to make my own dreams come true. Yes, it's essentially Full Metal Alchemist characters cosplaying as Final Fantasy VI characters and rotoscoped over previously-existing animation, but--damn it--a man can dream. Am I the only out there with such a far-off, adaptation-based wish? (This is where you respond and I feel better.) Related Links: Rockman Lucky Star TVTropes' "Woolseyisms" Posted Sep 03 2008, 10:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: final fantasy vi, square-enix, anime, bob mackey

• Ne, Rokkuman! Yaranaika?: The World of Hayadain

  Yesterday afternoon, our hero John Constantine became frightened and confused when he inadvertently discovered Mario and the Western Show. In this jaunty showtune, which is set to music from Super Mario World, Super Mario and his nemesis Bowser haggle back and forth over which one of them loves Princess Peach more (and Bowser picks his nose hard enough to make it bleed). Both seem oblivious to the fact that Peach wants neither of them. In fact, she sounds like she's on the verge of initiating that sexual harassment lawsuit that should have been filed years ago. Mario and the Western Show is written by a Japanese remixer named Hyadain. Whereas America treats its video game remixes with the awe and dignity you'd expect with a revered hobby, Japan's remixes tend to be a bit more silly. Hyadin has become especially famous for cutting loose and giving us beauties like The World Warrior. The World Warrior features the cast of Street Fighter. Each fighter sings about what motivates them to get their face stepped on by M Bison. True to the series, Honda says, ”Sumo is the greatest fighting style in the world!” When is someone going to conjure up the stones to tell the dude that he's the #1 choice of n00bs? Nobody who doesn't want to be sat on, I guess. Other delights by Hyadin include Appearance of Golbez's Four Lords of the Elements and (oh God) CRASH! Let's Do It!, which is Crashman's love song to Mega Man. Don't act disgusted, you only wish you could make love to your hero while Airman fans you gently. Read More... Posted Aug 28 2008, 03:16 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: street fighter, japan, mega man, final fantasy vi, game music, final fantasy iv, fandom, nadia oxford, hyadain, my first friend, crashman, mario and the western show, rockman, remix

• TVTropes' "Woolseyisms"

  It's rare that we give much thought to the good men and women who turn our video game text from "YOU LUCKY ARE WINNER!" to something dignified. But where there are exceptions, there is the potential for small wars. By far one of the most controversial names in game translation and localisation is Mr Ted Woolsey. Ted Woolsey translated many of Square-Enix's best-known 16-bit works, including Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI and Super Mario RPG. To give you an idea of how divided gamers are over this gentlemen, consider that Woolsey hasn't done any substantial translation work since the death of the Super Nintendo but his name alone makes people jump up and down like testosterone-driven baboons. TV Tropes has a long and rambling Wiki entry about Woolsey, his followers and his haters. For the sake of a quick crash course, Woolsey was (in)famous for adding his own voice to his translations. This "voice" gave us something to smile at in the place of Japanese puns we couldn't understand (except for purists who can't understand why we don't think sound-alike sushi name jokes are funny). His voice also added a good deal of depth to what was, for most of us, an epic story. Final Fantasy II US had an okay thing going with illegitimate moon brothers or whatever, but Final Fantasy III US--or Final Fantasy VI, if you prefer--took on themes that were unheard of and still go largely untouched by RPGs today. Woolsey had to convey Terra's identity crisis, suicide, unwanted pregnancy and the friggin' Apocalypse while keeping the game text family friendly. Oh, and he wasn't allowed to make references to anyone dying, even though Kefka remains the only Square villian who killed people like bugs for the sheer joy of it. Read More... Posted Aug 21 2008, 07:20 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: final fantasy vi, retro, 16-bit, translation, fandom, localization, ted woolsey, controversy

• The Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Soundtrack - An Inside Look

  In this exclusive follow-up to our interview with Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix soundtrack producers David "djpretzel" Lloyd and Larry "Liontamer" Oji, djpretzel himself gives us a breakdown of four tracks from the game: E. Honda 'Dosu-Koi' djpretzel "This was the track that I set my sights on early in the process. McVaffe has had an excellent mix of this track on OCR for a long while, modeled after Madonna's song 'Music,' but Capcom weren't feeling it for in-game usage, so I decided to take a shot.  My initial version was way too aggressive, and got the hundred-hand slapdown itself, but I went back to the drawing board and did something mellower, with more of an emphasis on Asian instrumentation.  There's shamisen, koto, shakuhachi, AND taiko in there, so it's got the 'big four' of Japanese instruments (more or less) and is more appropriate to the sumo bath house setting." Read More... Posted Aug 15 2008, 01:00 PM by Peter Smith with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: peter smith, battletoads, capcom, taito, double dragon, super street fighter II turbo hd remix, zelda, final fantasy vi, ocarina of time, chrono trigger, sonic the hedgehog, tim follin, donkey kong country, street fighter ii, lemmings, mega man ii, super mario galaxy, xenogears, yasunori mitsuda, space harrier, streets of rage, alex kidd, final fantasy vii, lunar, david lloyd, solstice, liontamer, super maroi bros 3, road rash, shinobi, yuzo kushiro, super castlevania iv, silver surfer, zuntata, alph lyra, dave wise, ghouls 'n ghosts, masato nakamura, koji kondo, 61fps q&a, tokuhiko uwabo, revenge of shinobi, dream house, ecco the dolphin: defender of the future, blood on the asphalt, djpretzel, yasuhira watanabe, spy hunter, spider-man and the x-men: arcade's revenge, oc remix, smurfs, larry oji, kazunaka yamane, jose e. felix, big giant circles, the grammar club, jimmy hinson, prozax, justin r coleman, ae

• 61FPS Q&A: David Lloyd and Larry Oji of OC ReMix on the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Soundtrack (Part 2)

  What are some of your favorite game soundtracks? Favorite composers? djpretzel: Yuzo Koshiro, Dave Wise, Yasunori Mitsuda, Tokuhiko Uwabo, and Koji Kondo are all amazing... Super Castlevania IV, Revenge of Shinobi, Lunar (Sega CD version!!), Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Final Fantasy VI , Mega Man II, and Super Mario Galaxy are my favorite game scores at the moment. Larry Oji: Favorite soundtracks and composers tend to go hand in hand. I'm a big fan of Koji Kondo's work on the Super Mario series, Masato Nakamura's on the Sonic the Hedgehog series (Sonic 3 & Knuckles, though not his, was excellent too), Alph Lyra for the Street Fighter II series, David Wise for Donkey Kong Country and Battletoads, Kazunaka Yamane for the Double Dragon series, and Yuzo Koshiro for the Streets of Rage series. That covers a lot of the games I played as a kid. Since learning more about the history of game music, I love so much stuff now, I can't even rattle it off. But my second-favorite composer, little known in the States, is Yasuhisa "Yack" Watanabe. His stuff is a lot more known in Japan, including as a member of Taito's Zuntata group, but almost no one tries to arrange his material; it's pretty far out there, so I can understand why. Sometimes his stuff doesn't resonate with me, but he's put out some incredible compositions. Then my personal favorite is British composer Tim Follin, whose nearly two-decade career composing for games was unparalleled, as far as what I've personally enjoyed. Check out his compositions for Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Solstice, Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge and Silver Surfer. He always strove for creative techniques and cool textures with his chiptunes. Plus, his modern soundtracks like Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future and Lemmings for the PSP were equally impressive. I've been slowly plugging away at a small OC ReMix album project paying tribute to his work, so before the end of this year, Dirge for the Follin should finally be out there, lamenting the fact that he retired from the industry. Read More... Posted Aug 14 2008, 10:00 AM by Peter Smith with | with no comments Filed under: peter smith, battletoads, capcom, taito, double dragon, super street fighter II turbo hd remix, zelda, final fantasy vi, ocarina of time, chrono trigger, sonic the hedgehog, tim follin, donkey kong country, street fighter ii, lemmings, mega man ii, super mario galaxy, xenogears, yasunori mitsuda, space harrier, streets of rage, alex kidd, final fantasy vii, lunar, david lloyd, solstice, liontamer, super maroi bros 3, road rash, shinobi, yuzo kushiro, super castlevania iv, silver surfer, zuntata, alph lyra, dave wise, ghouls 'n ghosts, masato nakamura, koji kondo, 61fps q&a, tokuhiko uwabo, revenge of shinobi, dream house, ecco the dolphin: defender of the future, blood on the asphalt, djpretzel, yasuhira watanabe, spy hunter, spider-man and the x-men: arcade's revenge, oc remix, smurfs, larry oji, kazunaka yamane, jose e. felix

• 61FPS Q&A: David Lloyd and Larry Oji of OC ReMix on the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Soundtrack (Part 1)

  Here at 61FPS, we couldn't be more excited about the upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. So it's with great pleasure that we present our in-depth Q&A with David "djpretzel" Lloyd and Larry "Liontamer" Oji, of the definitive game-music remix site, OC ReMix. In a deliciously fan-friendly turn of events, OC ReMix was tapped to produce the music for SSF2THD — and we've got the inside scoop on this glorious reimagining of one of the greatest game soundtracks ever. We also took the opportunity to chat with these gurus on a wide range of game-music-related topics. Enjoy! David, can you tell us about founding OC ReMix? David W. Lloyd (djpretzel): Way back in 1999, I was making a 3D comic strip dedicated to the emulation scene called "OverClocked" — a few episodes were actually pretty funny, and it played a part in popularizing the whole "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" craze, but it was also a way for me to get better at Photoshop and 3D Studio MAX. I wanted something I could work on for music as well, to get better at composing, arranging and producing; I had this idea to do videogame arrangements of my own, but also to open it up to others. At the time, there were sites which were specific to Commodore 64 games, and which focused on techno mixes, but nothing that was more open-ended. I wanted a website that encouraged jazz, classical, rap, rock and anything else, in addition to electronica genres, and which allowed arrangements from computer games, console games, handheld games and arcade games alike. There was nothing like that in existence, so I figured I'd start something myself. "OverClocked ReMix" started as a side-project to "OverClocked" the comic strip, but eventually became a hundred times bigger. In the early days, I was like a door-to-door salesman, emailing people asking for their permission to post their mixes on the site, but once it grew large enough, people started sending us stuff. Eventually there were so many submissions that we needed to create a judges panel and more official guidelines/standards, which really helped clarify what we're all about — interpretive arrangements, not just the original with drum loops on top. The rest, as they say, is history! Read More... Posted Aug 13 2008, 10:00 AM by Peter Smith with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: peter smith, battletoads, capcom, taito, double dragon, super street fighter II turbo hd remix, zelda, final fantasy vi, ocarina of time, chrono trigger, sonic the hedgehog, tim follin, donkey kong country, street fighter ii, lemmings, mega man ii, super mario galaxy, xenogears, yasunori mitsuda, space harrier, streets of rage, alex kidd, final fantasy vii, lunar, david lloyd, solstice, liontamer, jose e felix, super maroi bros 3, road rash, shinobi, yuzo kushiro, super castlevania iv, silver surfer, zuntata, alph lyra, dave wise, ghouls 'n ghosts, masato nakamura, koji kondo, 61fps q&a, tokuhiko uwabo, revenge of shinobi, dream house, ecco the dolphin: defender of the future, blood on the asphalt, djpretzel, yasuhira watanabe, spy hunter, spider-man and the x-men: arcade's revenge, oc remix, smurfs, larry oji, kazunaka yamane

• The Ten Greatest Fire Levels in Gaming History, Part 3

  The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker — Dragon Roost Cavern Generally speaking, I have as much disdain for the 3D Zelda games as I have love for their 2D predecessors. With some exceptions, they're tedious slogs of fetch questing, hand holding, and unskippable, unbearably patronizing prattle. ("You got a key! You can use it to open a door!") This subject tends to be a bone of contention between me and my esteemed colleague here at 61FPS, but one thing I have to concede to him is that the dungeon design in these games is usually pretty swell. For all of Wind Waker's faults, it has the virtue of being visually gorgeous, which is why its fire dungeon, Dragon Roost Cavern, beats out the dreary Fire Temple from Ocarina of Time. (Don't even get me started on Twilight Princess.) The dungeon's architecture and mood are admirably cohesive, too — you can almost feel the breezy air outside the volcano give way to a brutal dry heat within. And the boss is — no argument here — spectacular. You win this round, 3D Zelda. . . grumble, grumble. . . — PS Read More... Posted May 29 2008, 06:32 PM by Peter Smith with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, peter smith, final fantasy, top ten, silent hill, list, zelda, final fantasy vi, axelay, ocarina of time, thunderforce iii, gradius ii, wind waker, twilight princess, the ten greatest fire levels in gaming history