When it comes to the game music arrangement scene, people often remix what they know. For every reinterpretation of an obscure game’s music, you’re bound to find fifty Mega Man 2 or Chrono Trigger remixes. With their 32nd album release, OverClocked Remix is looking to tip the scale in favor of games a bit off the beaten path.

Unsung Heroes shines the spotlight on fifteen often ignored games including Secret of Evermore, Bahamut Lagoon, Breath of Fire II, and Legacy of the Wizard. Level 99 (one of the album’s assistant directors) notes on the album’s official site that each source tune holds a special meaning to the musician involved, making it a rather personal remix album.

Be sure to check out the trailer below and head on over to the official site to download the free album. With a theme like this, you might just find a new soundtrack or two to check out along the way. Read the rest of this story »

They sure don’t make music like they use to… or do they?! Souleye, composer of the delightfully retro VVVVVV soundtrack, just released his new album, Adventure. If you’re a fan of chiptune music with a modern twist, Adventure hits all the right notes and then some.

On it, you’ll hear the music of Pulsen, some reworked and previously unreleased material from VVVVVV, and a load of new stuff. You can grab the album in physical and digital form for ten bucks. And if you shoot Souleye an email before making your purchase, he’ll even sign it for you! In the meantime, you can find clips of the album inexplicably played over the top of people skydiving in squirrel suits below. Read the rest of this story »

On the second episode of Sound in Action, I take a moment to examine the modern JRPG. This includes games that have been recently released as well as a few that haven’t yet made it to North America (and some that might never make it). This episode features a mix of in-game music and official arrangements. You’ll also hear me gush a bit about the wonderful Xenoblade soundtrack among others.

You might notice I used better recording equipment this time around so the quality should be substantially better than the first episode. I want to thank everybody who’s given me feedback in comments, tweets, Facebook, and Skype. It means a lot. It was also one of the main motivators for making the show biweekly instead of monthly. That’s right! Your feedback has already come directly into play in the show’s fate. Please keep the feedback coming so I can keep striving to improve the show.

As always, you’ll find the full track list with purchase links at the bottom of the post.

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It’s time for some “real talk”.

We here at WingDamage strive to bring you fun and original content about video games. It’s our favorite thing to blather on about. But there comes a time when you realize that life has gotten significantly busier for you, and your hobbies need to be pushed to the back burner.

That said, we want to continue to record and post new episodes or Barrel Roll, but to continue to do so we have changed a few things. First, it’s a little bit more on the casual/conversational side. We are going to pick a couple topics and see where they take us. This means there may be some tangents. Second, we are going bi-weekly, at least for the time being. The good news is Jesse is also going to attempt to make “Sound In Action” bi-weekly, so you’ll still be getting a new podcast every week. We are also working on the next episode of “I Am Error“, so we got that going on too.

So download the show, enjoy, and leave any and all feedback in the comments below.

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A new year, a new… podcast?!

Don’t worry, the “Barrel Roll!” podcast isn’t going away any time soon despite its absence this week. In the meantime, “Sound in Action” discusses the aspect of games that doesn’t get nearly enough attention: the music. As your host, I’ll take you through a selection of songs in each episode and talk about why I feel each song and soundtrack is notable. I don’t claim to have the ultimate musical knowledge, but I have been an avid listener of game soundtracks for over two decades and have been remixing game music for many years. Think of it less as a critique and more of a celebration of an often ignored subject.

That said, I need your feedback! Please have a listen and tell me what you liked and what you didn’t. This show is still in the idea phase and I want to make sure there is enough interest in it to continue producing it.

On this first episode, I take a look at six of my favorite soundtracks from last year. You can find links on where to purchase these soundtracks at the bottom of the post.

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What was the best game of the year? It’s something that gamers worldwide will argue over for the next several weeks. You have, and will continue to see, numerous ”Top 10″ lists plastered over every gaming blog on the internet.

This year, we at WingDamage.com wanted to take a little different approach. 2011 was a fantastic year for gaming. You could pick up nearly any new release (or digital only release for that matter) and come away pretty happy with your purchase. While this is a fantastic problem to have, it does make narrowing down and ordering a “Top 10″ list a harrowing endeavor.

Instead, this year we’ve decided to give you a quick rundown of a few of our favorite games in no particular order. If we missed your favorite game, please let us know in the comments.

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It’s that time of year again where “Top 10″ lists saturate gaming blogs even more than usual. And yet, game music will once again receive little to no attention on most sites. That simply just won’t do! For the third year in a row, I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on the sweeping scores and bumping beats that the soundtracks of 2011 brought us.

Of course, listening to every soundtrack released in North America last year is an impossible task and my taste might not sync up with yours. I may have not listed your personal favorite (let me know in the comments), but maybe you’ll discover something new. I’ve included a four song sampler clip and purchase link for each soundtrack below for your convenience.

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This week on the show, Adam Anania returns to tell us all the games he has been playing. It isn’t really a game so much as a way to send Jesse disturbing images. It’s better known as Swapnote. Jonah tried to get into the Sega CD entry in the Sonic series, Sonic CD, on the iPhone, and to give himself something other than Star Wars: The Old Republic to talk about, he also played a few rounds of Orcs Must Die!

Meanwhile, Jesse actually played some games, which include the excellent Rayman Origins and a flash game that is almost exactly like Mega Man, but not quite. It’s called Rokko Chan and it stars a “female” robot fighting several bosses whose names happen to end in “Man”. We also pick the winner of our Bad Dudes “Metroid 25th Anniversary Album” giveaway.

It’s a shorter show this week thanks to all of the end of the year goings on, but we still had a good time talking video games. So give it a download and a listen, and enjoy our one-hundred and forty-eighth episode, “Sandopolis”.

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This week on the show, Jonah is shocked to his very core when Jesse not only tried an MMO, but actually enjoyed it! That’s right, we are talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic, just like every other show out there.

But don’t worry, we diversify. We aren’t content being stuck in some intergalactic rut. No, my friends, we also take a look at Mighty Switch Force. Oh, other shows mentioned that one as well? What about Mega Man X for iOS? Adam’s got your back. You want a little Monster Tale action for the DS players out there? We got that, too. Jonah and Adam have also been playing the 3DS eShop exclusive Pushmo and think you should probably go buy it.

Not to be outdone talking digital content, Jesse has a special Game Music Roundup section of the show where he talks about the Mighty Switch Force OST from Virt, “Super Meat Boy: Choice Piano Cuts“, “Wild Arms: Armed and Dangerous” and the new release from Bad Dudes, “Metroid Arrange 25th Anniversary Album“. There is a lot of awesome stuff you should be checking out and the breakdown of why is here on this, the Barrel Roll podshow. It’s episode one-hundred and forty-seven, “I’m Just So Tired of All These Star Wars”.

Middle Song – “DiggiDis – Spikes are Everywhere [Super Metroid - Brinstar - Red Soil Wetland Area]”

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How would you like to be part of an elite club with only 1,000 members? I’m talking about the official “People Who Own a Limited Edition Physical Copy of the New Bad Dudes Metroid Album” club. It’s very exclusive, but we can make it happen (we know a guy).

Club benefits include having a copy of Metroid Arrange 25th Anniversary Album by the Bad Dudes (including a bonus track not available in the digital version), the ability to feast your eyeballs on a glorious, double-sided poster and four panel comic, and the satisfaction of knowing that you’re now just a bit better than everyone else out there.

All you have to do is follow the instructions below and let us know what your favorite Metroid powerup is in the comments of this post. Do you like tearing through enemies with the screw attack? Or maybe you prefer turning enemies into platforms with the ice beam. Space jump over to the comments section and let us know!

Contest Rules:

1. Leave a comment below and tell us your favorite powerup from the Metroid series
2. Limit one entry per person
3. All entries must be made by legal U.S. residents
4. Entries must be accepted by 5:00pm PST on Friday, December 30th. We will then randomly select one winner