Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Ah, June! When the game industry’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of exclusives! And release dates! And launch windows! For us at Video Game Grooves, our fancy turns to the same thing as ever: video game music on vinyl records! But we’ll play along, and this episode we’re talking about a couple of staples at E3 2019 as well as years prior!
We kick off the event with The Big One: the picture disc release of Final Fantasy VII, by Square Enix. Anthony digs deep into Nobuo Uematsu’s beloved score to this classic RPG to pluck out a pair of underappreciated gems. A remake is coming (allegedly! we’ll believe it when it’s available for sale…), but we wade into the luscious MIDI sounds of the 1997 game and discuss its impact on young gamers, and the music of Uematsu himself and what it’s made of. Then we move on to a newer (and older) E3 fixture with Battletoads by David Wise. Jeremy wrangles this iam8bit release to discuss a bit about Rare, about Wise’s entry into the games industry, and a bit about the eclectic nature of the game itself and its iconic experience.
Moving along to the new releases, we brave the street festival outside Paul’s place to make sure you know about all the latest announcements and releases and their need to drain your pockets and occupy your shelf space. Finally, we proceed from Battletoads and its exclusive San Diego Comic Con variant to discuss the phenomenon of “convention exclusives”, and whether they are an innocent benefit of labels and fans getting together in one place, or an abusive chase system that leaves few happy and many feeling left out. Join us and chime in!
Outro: “Cosmo Canyon” – Final Fantasy VII, by Nobuo Uematsu
Twitter – @vg_grooves, @walnutsoap, @jeremy_lamont, @ajohnagnello
Links:
Pulstar (Brave Wave, Fangamer and Bigwax)
Desert Child (Limited Run Games) (sold out)
Skies of Arcadia (Wayô Records)
Little Big Adventure/Twinsen’s Adventure (Kickstarter)
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (Namco Bandai)
Battletech (Black Screen Records)
Bonus Levels (DIBIA$E Bandcamp)
The Sensible EP (ReadOnlyMemory)
Image Gallery
Jerm has sexy man voice