Caution: Don’t view this if you’re prone to epilepsy. I was lucky enough to attend the grand reopening of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art this weekend. While there will be more writing of that coming soon, thought I’d give you a look at one of the museum’s coolest exhibits. Takeshi Murata’s Melter 3-D uses strobe lights to create this amazing optical illusion sculpture.
You may not have noticed, but my YouTube account was terminated a few days ago. I could talk about how annoying and frustrating it is to lose something that I’ve had for years, all due to the site’s inconsistent copyright notice system, but I’ll spare you. It’s fine, really. I’ve restarted from scratch and am currently getting my travel videos reuploaded. I didn’t lost anything important…aside from my favorites list.
Having to redo my favorites list has actually been a blessing in disguise; it’s made me revisit videos and songs that I haven’t heard in ages, like the Katamari Damacy soundtracks. If you’ve followed the blog for a while, you know why I love the Katamari series: A bizarre, hilarious premise involving physics and mythology, accompanied by an eclectic blend of rock, jazz, pop, electronica, mambo, gospel, and pretty much every other musical genre you could possibly think of. “Que Sera Sera” was one of those great standouts in the original game; no one expected chill English lounge music in such a wonderfully strange Japanese game.
If you want more Katamari Damacy, you can listen to the OST here.
Good gaming, good music.
As you might’ve noticed, I’ve been playing a lot of Hyrule Warriors Legends since it came out last month. By no means is it a perfect game – I’ve covered it in my recent review – but the music undeniably awesome. I never expected that an official Zelda game would feature rock remixes of its iconic music; its themes have generally gravitated toward classical and instrumental works. However, these versions fit perfectly with the game’s style. When you’re outnumbered a thousand to one in an battle against evil and still winning, you’d want to accompanied with some epic music.
If you want more Hyrule Warriors, you can find the full OST here.
Good gaming, good music.
I haven’t had much free time to play video games lately, but I’m finally starting to dig into the backlog I’ve accumulated. The first title on my list was Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. You might recall that I’m a huge Metal Gear fan, and for good reason; the series has some of the best cinematic storytelling and cleverly designed gameplay mechanics in the industry. Ground Zeroes wasn’t a full game; it was essentially an early-release prologue for The Phantom Pain, which came out months later. It’s set in 1975, and you’re tasked with infiltrating an American black site in Cuba – a not-so-subtle commentary on Guantanamo Bay – and rescuing two of your allies imprisoned inside. Despite being a playable preview for the bigger game, Ground Zeroes more than proves its concept; you’re allowed to freely explore this massive map, discover its layout, and evade dozens of guards the entire time. The interactivity with objects and vehicles, the use of lighting and perspective, and the acoustics of the rain and voices are amazing.
What I enjoyed most, however, was the music. The series has always been known for its killer soundtracks, but only a handful of the games let you change the background music during gameplay. This time, you can listen to different cassette tapes – again, this is 1975 – thus giving your spy mission a little more flavor. One of the unlockable songs is this acoustic version of Paz’s character theme, “Love Deterrence.” She’s one of the prisoners you have to save, and the somber, romantic guitar melody sums up her relationship with Big Boss perfectly. Explaining the details would spoil the story of Peace Walker, but let’s just say there’s a good reason why a young woman like Paz would be locked up in a military prison…
If you want something a little more lighthearted, you can hear the original J-Pop version of “Love Deterrence” from Peace Walker here. If you want more Metal Gear Solid V, you can find the full OST here.
Good gaming, good music.
Hey, did you know Pokemon turned 20 this week? Yeah, I was surprised, too. I remember when the series first came to America. I was in that perfect target demographic sweet spot; I had a Game Boy, watched weekday afternoon cartoons (Pokemon was technically my first anime, as Toonami hadn’t premiered yet), and still had the time to dedicate hours to catching ’em all. I can still recite the original PokeRap. I don’t think I need to elaborate on Nintendo’s brilliant marketing campaign; the fact that the series has survived this long – with two brand new games coming out this Christmas – speaks for itself. Nintendo definitely knew they were onto something by 2001, when they included this song in Super Smash Bros. Melee. A fully-orchestrated remix of the anime’s title theme, complete with an utterly epic choir? Yeah, that’ll blow any fan’s mind the first time they hear it. While I don’t play Pokemon anymore (an exercise in futility if there ever was one), I still remember the original games fondly.
If you want more SSBM, you can find the full OST here.
Good gaming, good music.
This week’s photo challenge is all about state of mind, so I thought I’d skip way ahead in my travel writing and give you a glimpse of my time in Spain. The Renaissance Barcelona Hotel has a stylish lookout point built into its 8th floor. It’s nice, quiet, and comfortable. If you’ve been walking around the city all day, this is the place to go; you can bring your dinner upstairs, relax on the beds, listen to the chill music (they were playing a remix of Diana Ross’s “Love Hangover” at the time), and get a decent view of downtown. That’s assuming, of course, that you’re a hotel guest; you need a room keycard to access the elevator. A larger version is viewable here.
DNews breaks down one of the latest and biggest discoveries in physics. Seriously though, this is amazing. The folks running the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) have pulled off something that Einstein could only predict in his lifetime. Now that gravitational waves have been proven to exist, we’re one more important piece closer to solving – or at least comprehending – the vast puzzle that is the universe. If there’s ever going to be a 21st century game-changer for astronomy, this is it.
MinutePhysics explains why building things to last is more complicated than you might think.
Derek at Veritasium explains why we perceive time faster as we get older.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is a serious contender for my favorite game of all time. I could spend hours waxing poetic about its incredible design. How fun it was despite the relatively small roster. How unappreciated it was in its time, simply because of its ridiculously steep learning curve. How its intricate and technical combat mechanics set new standards for the fighting genre. How its complex parrying and combo systems unapologetically demanded memorization down to individual animation frames. How the graphics were some of the finest 2D sprites in the 90s. How high-level play is insanely difficult but extremely entertaining, even almost two decades later. How it’s one of the few games that I’m still willing to play anywhere, anytime.
Yeah, I love 3rd Strike.
What many folks remember it for most, however, is the soundtrack. The playlist borrowed from and blended several genres, most notably jazz, rap, techno, and instrumentals. It was a risky departure from the simpler, traditional game music themes (which Street Fighter II helped establish), but the decision paid off in spades. Jazzy NYC ’99 is arguably the most famous track, for obvious reasons. Its catchy beat goes perfectly with the bustling, gritty city subway in which its stage is located. Even after all these years, any old school fighting game fan will recognize it instantly. That’s a testament to this game’s quality.
If you want more 3rd Strike, you can find the full OST here.
Good gaming, good music.
Polymathically 