Christmas, Winter Game Music - GameJams Holiday Special 2011

Episode Transcript

It's that time of year again for a festive holiday treat with the GameJams Holiday Special 2011, so join your host Kenny Farino as he brings you some wintery remixes that are bound to warm your hearts and bring some Christmas cheer! This year's special features some upbeat remixes from Phoenix Wright, Earthbound and Snow Bros, some pretty winter requiems from Final Fantasy VI and Super Ghouls N' Ghosts, and a recurring annual tradition with a Secret of Mana remix from the UMD Gamer Symphony Orchestra! "The Polar Express" - NIGHTS Into Dreams... - Remixed by DCT, www.ocremix.org, video courtesy of LaughingMan Welcome once again friends, it's that time of year, so Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Life Day, and Happy whatever other nondenominational holidays you might celebrate! This is the GameJams Holiday Special, and this year we're doing things a little differently. Last year's episode was full of good cheer and tons of Christmas remixes, but this time we're focusing on the wintery side of the holiday season, the side where you curl up next to a fire with a good book and with that special someone you love so much, or maybe the side that calls for snowball fights and snowmen! Whatever the case, we hope you enjoy tonight's program. That last remix was brought to us by NIGHTS Into Dreams, and it was called "The Polar Express," created by DCT. If you're watching the video version of this podcast, the music video was courtesy of CheshireCatStudios member the LaughingMan. NIGHTs seems to be a popular game franchise that always has a good number of wintery Christmas or winter remixes, and although this particular mix isn't from the specific Christmas-themed game, it's still a joy to listen to that helps get us into the right mood. Coming up next, we now have a remix from a game called Seiken Densetsu 3. Without a doubt, fans of Japanese games have heard of this, but to fill the rest of you in, it was a Square title that was only launched for the Super Famicom, and it is part of the Mana series. In fact, that is why many Western gamers refer to it as Secret of Mana 2. Although it plays a lot like its predecessor The Secret of Mana, what is neat about Seiken Densetsu 3 is that it involves some pretty neat innovations for its time. This includes an in-game passage of time that has become the norm for modern-day RPGs, and that affects the gameplay in certain ways. For example, on one day, fire magic is stronger, while on another moon magic is stronger. So where can you get hold of essentially The Secret of Mana 2? While no official release happened outside of Japan, there is an English translation floating around on the internet, so find it and give it a try! So now, this next remix is called "Aurora Borealis," and it was created by Rozovian! "Aurora Borealis" - Seiken Densetsu 3 - Remixed by Rozovian, www.ocremix.org. "Christmas Cave" - Donkey Kong Country - Remixed by deim0s, www.ocremix.org, video courtesy of LaughingMan In addition to finding wintery remixes or Christmas tunes, something we do with these holiday specials is that we look for themes that come from snow-themed levels, and this is where our next remix comes in. While Donkey Kong Country is not a wintery game by any means, it managed to make it into our list by featuring a world called Gorilla Glacier, a wintery wonderland where Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have to fight through not only Kremlins, but blizzards and the bitter cold. That last remix was called "Christmas Cave," and it was created by deim0s. Once again, if you're also watching the video version, the music video was courtesy of the LaughingMan. Coming up next, we have a remix from the super-popular Final Fantasy series that reminds us of the darker side of winter, acting as a metaphor for the darkest times in our lives and, in some cases, even death. Final Fantasy 6 is the perfect game to explore this literary metaphor because not only does the protagonist, Terra, aim to find a frozen esper in the beginning of the game, but she also goes through a crisis in her life, regaining her identity and freedom after being a tool of the empire she served for so long. So without further ado, here's "Death On The Snowfield," a remix by AmIEvil that was requested by LaughingMan, and from Final Fantasy 6! "Death on the Snowfield" - Final Fantasy 6 - Remixed by AmIEvil, www.ocremix.org, music video courtesy of LaughingMan. "Angel's Fear" - The Secret of Mana - Remixed by UMD Gamer Symphony Orchestra Here at GameJams, we thought it would be a cool idea to have an annual tradition as part of our holiday celebrations. See, last year, we featured a remix from a particularly promising group, and after the episode aired they contacted us! One interview later, we consider the UMD Gamer Symphony Orchestra part of the GameJams family! If you want to learn more about what they do, why not check out our special interview episode on gamejams.net? Anywho, while we couldn't provide a ballet video to compliment the song like we did last year, we featured a very pretty remix from the game The Secret of Mana, one of the essential classics on the Super Nintendo! Remember, this is a big deal because The Secret of Mana's music was so good that the composer actually got near top billing! That remix was called Angel's Fear, and it was performed by the UMD Gamer Symphony Orchestra! But coming up next, we have an angelic remix from one of the most difficult and demonic games that Capcom has ever produced, Super Ghouls N' Ghosts! While everyone is familiar with the theme of the first level (since not many gamers can get past it), there haven't been many remixes of tunes from other parts of the game. What surprised me here was not only that, but it managed to be a very wintery composition as well! Perfect for the holiday seasons, I admit! So without further ado, here is a chilling remix from Super Ghouls N' Ghosts called "Ice Mountain Symphony", created by McVaffe! "Ice Mountain Symphony" - Super Ghouls N' Ghosts - Remixed by McVaffe, www.ocremix.org "Dan's Ice Cream Truck" - Street Fighter Alpha 2 - Remixed by Joshua Morse and po!, www.ocremix.org Who said that jazz couldn't raise someone's spirits, eh? To make sure that we didn't go overboard with the pretty remixes or anthems with plenty of jingly bells, we also wanted to include everyone's favorite pink loser from the Street Fighter series to keep things fresh! That's right, Dan Hibiki even gets some love during the holiday season! For those of you who don't know, Dan actually has an interesting history where after Street Fighter 2 became very popular, rival company SNK made a game called the Art of Fighting. The protagonist of that game, Ryo, sported a striking resemblance to both Ryu and Ken. Capcom retaliated by creating a spoof character of their own, bearing resemblance to both Ryo and another character from the Art of Fighting. In Street Fighter Alpha, he would later become Dan Hibiki, a very weak character that thinks he is the master of fighting when he can be blown over by a stiff wind. It's okay Dan, we still love you anyway! That remix was "Dan's Ice Cream Truck" from Street Fighter Alpha 2, and it was brought to you by Joshua Morse and po! But now, we pay tribute to another goofball who's significantly better at his job than Dan, Phoenix Wright. This next remix gives us a good festive feeling not in the traditional jingle-bells sort of way, but it is strangely appropriate for our lineup regardless because, at least for me, it makes me so happy listening to it! Even though their relationship was strictly professional in a mentor-student sense, I couldn't help but feel that the title "Holiday with Mia Fey" inspires that part of us that wants to hold that special someone close in the middle of a cold night, and never let go. See, the holidays are always that part of the year where we get to spend time with friends and lovers, and even when some people don't like being around their family sometimes, the winter is still that time where we can embrace our differences, and feel that warmth that comes with a close, loving relationship. That's what Christmas always means for me. But anyway, up next, here's "Holiday with Mia Fey," a remix from Phoenix Wright that was recorded by OA! "Holiday with Mia Fey" - Phoenix Wright - Remixed by OA, www.ocremix.org "Go Blow Snow For A Year" - Snow Bros. - Remixed by housethegrate, www.ocremix.org Obviously, we couldn't leave our last remix out of the equation, because the game that it is from screams winter! I have personally never heard of the game Snow Bros, but this is why we're here! Lemme fill you in: released in 1990 for the arcades, it tells the story of two snowmen, Nick and Tom, as they go to rescue their ladyfriends from the clutches of a very effeminate demon king! The aim of the game is to cover demons in snow, and then try to smash the snowballs into other demons for more points! This is a very creative and interesting premise, and it was later released for the NES, Commodore 64, Sega Genesis, ZX Spectrum, and GX4000! This is definitely a weird one, but it looks like a lot of fun! But now, we're closing in on the final remix of the night, but before we do that, we have a public service announcement. Listen up kids, this stuff's important! We at GameJams, CheshireCatStudios, Mr. Coat and Friends, and BlisteredThumbs all wish you a very happy holidays, so whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstace, Life Day, or any other nondenominational holiday, we just hope that they are spent living, loving, and laughing with those special friends and family members that matter in your life! The new year is coming, and we hope it brings some good things into your lives! So now, to wrap up our very special Holiday GameJams episode, we bring you a remix from Earthbound! A remix of the Town of Winter, this is a very appropriate way to close us out since it has all the things that I believe the holidays are all about: the festive bells, the high energy, and the feel-good spirits! So while you sip that hot cocoa by the fireplace, we wish you a very happy holiday with "Snowbound," a remix from Earthbound that was brought to you by bLiNd! Have a happy new year! "Snowbound" - Earthbound - Remixed by bLiNd, www.ocremix.org "Hymn" - Namco Sounds - a soundclip from Splatterhouse played during the ending bumpers, all rights reserved.

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GameJams Holiday Special 2011

It's that time of year again, so join us for a very special GameJams Holiday Special!

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