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, 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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Spyro is fast, and a dragon!

With the holiday weekend upon us and everyone traveling, visiting family, or otherwise incapacitated, it’s up to Jonah and Jesse to hold down the fort. But that’s OK, because they both managed to play a lot of games this week.

Jesse reviewed The King of Fighters XIII and gives us the full rundown on this edition’s updates (this time there are modes!). Jonah finished the 3DS version of Sonic Generations and compares it to its big console counterpart. Jesse is about four dungeons in to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and gives a breakdown of the pacing, mechanics, and most importantly, the 1-to-1 bug catching.

Our Let’s Play Together segment returns for a look at Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure and how it is a surprisingly fun game despite that it wants all of your money. We also talk about the very few new releases for the week and the gaming news. There is also a good chance of Skyrim related anecdotes popping up to round out our Sky-trifecta (skyfecta?). All this and more on Barrel Roll #143, “Spyro the Hedgehog”.

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Continuing the deluge of 25th anniversary game albums of 2011 comes a tribute to The Legend of Zelda. No, not the symphonic concert series CD packaged with Skyward Sword. This one is far more eclectic (not to mention free).

25YEARLEGEND reinterprets memorable tunes from all across the franchise including some of Link’s less covered, portable adventures like Link’s Awakening and Oracle of Seasons. It’s a loving tribute to the music of a series that inspired each of the indie (and not so indie) game composers involved. Disasterpeace (Fez), Laura Shigihara (Plants vs. Zombies), C418 (Minecraft), Souleye (VVVVVV), and Big Giant Circles (Mass Effect 2) are just a few of the talented contributing artists.

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Unless you’re part of a huge media outlet, and you get a schedule of what you’re going to see, what interviews you’re going to have and when and so forth, managing E3 can be pretty daunting. This is the third time I’ve gone, but only the first time I’ve felt like I had my head above the water’s surface. And even then there is stuff I regret not checking out more deeply, not checking out at all, or not even realizing was there until after the fact. They really ought to add at least one more day, especially since a whole day’s worth of time ends up being eaten up waiting in line. Heaven help you if new hardware is unveiled that you want to see.

Anyway, to wrap up my coverage, I have a few more games I didn’t get enough from to warrant independent articles, but still wanted to give my two cents on.

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The dawn of a new year is the time to take a fresh, new outlook on life, and prepare optimistically for what the future has in store. Not for me though! As an aging, bitter gamer I am constantly worried. Worried that the shiny new game everyone’s going on about is going to turn out to be a dud. Even long running, dependable series aren’t always safe. It’s like when you go to a favorite restaurant time and time again, and then that one time they really screw up your order. Sure, you’ll go back again, but you’ll never forget that bad experience. You will always go in more cautious.

So simply enough, this is a list of games in 2011 I am most worried about. Specifically, these are games I really and truly want to be good, but can’t help but fear something might go wrong, for whatever reason. So you won’t see anything like, say, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, which I have no expectation will be any good to begin with.

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On a very special seventieth episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, we talk all things E3.

As we mentioned last year, E3 talk is mandatory for every gaming blog. On that note, we bring reports from the field thanks to The Mega Man Network’s own Adam “Heat-Man” Anania being our eyes and ears of the con.

Check out his hands on impressions, then check out the podcast.

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With E3 having come and gone now, I do miss it a little. By all means, it was no walk in the park. Driving around busy downtown LA looking for parking, wading through crowds of gamers, and sitting in lines for upwards of an hour just to try a game for ten minutes; it’s a lot of work. And yet somehow I feel like I came back too soon. Sure, it was fun to try out a lot of cool games before they release, but there was also an energy in the air that I miss being a part of.

At any rate, I must give sincere thanks to Capcom, especially Joveth “jgonzo” Gonzales. Due to my large involvement with The Mega Man Network, and promoting Mega Man in general, they offered me a pass as a way of saying thanks for the support. I am very humbled to know how much they appreciate the work I do, which has never struck me as anything incredible. Still, it’s unfortunate that none of Capcom’s announcements pertained to Mega Man… but I’m thankful all the same! Above is me on Capcom*Unity’s E3 stream with jgonzo and Noah, another Capcom fan. Sadly, I don’t recall what was said to make jgonzo produce such an awful expression.

Also deserving of thanks is my good pal Cheston, who accompanied me and helped out with some of the expenses, and more of the driving around. He also acted as our eyes as assistant media coordinator and took many of the photos we’ve used here in our reports. Cheston is getting married next month, so this may have been our last big adventure. But who knows! Couldn’t have done it without you, man. Congrats on tying the knot.

Finally, I guess I should thank the WingDamage crew for giving me a podium to express my experiences, since they wouldn’t really fit on TMMN. But having gotten to know Jesse and Jonah… yeah, I dunno. They’re sketchy to me. Anyway, enough sentimental crap. To close things up, I’m taking a look at Hard Corps: Uprising, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Metroid: Other M, Dead Rising 2, and Marvel vs Capcom 3.

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