"Journey" At The Oscars

 

 Now, I know what you guys are thinking: "Why do video games have to ANYTHING to do with the Grammy Awards?" Well in this very rarely seen case, one video game has been able to make the cut and be nominated for a Grammy for "Best Score Soundtrack Album for Visual Media." And trust me, I'm not kidding.

Title: Journey
Genre: Adventure
Console: Playstation 3
Developer: thatgamecompany
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Digital Release Date: March 13th, 2012
Collector's Edition Release Date: August 28th, 2012

Journey is the third game developed by thatgamecompany and the last game published under their contract with Sony Computer Entertainment, the other two games being flOw and Flower. The soundtrack, which the game was given the nomination for was composed by Austin Wintory.

In Journey, you play as a mysterious red robed figure traveling through the desert in order to reach the top of the mountain. Along the way players can meet up with other players (via Playstation Network) and work together to reach the mountain and discover new areas and learn more about the history of the robed figure.

Players can meet with other random players via the PlayStation Network. Image shown is two robed figures nearby the Broken Bridge, the second area in the game.

As previously stated, Austin Wintory, composer of the game's soundtrack, was to give players a sense of emotion that builds as you progress further and further on in the story.

Even though that Journey is the first game to received a Grammy nomination for it's overall soundtrack, it is not the first video game to receive a nomination. The first game to do so was Sid Meier's Civilization IV, being nominated (and winning) for "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals" with it's opening theme "Baba Yetu".

Baba Yetu Music Video:

 Journey's competition for the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Grammy include soundtracks from the following movies: "The Dark Knight Rises", "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "The Artist", "Hugo", and "The Adventures of Tintin". It would be quite a shock to see a video game soundtrack win against several popular movies.

To end this blog, here's a taste of one of the tracks from Journey, "I Was Born For This".

You can download the full soundtrack for Journey from Amazon or itunes, or you can check out the Journey Bonus Bundle on bandcamp, which includes tracks/remixes from Journey and flOw.

The Oscars will air Sunday, February 10th, at 8 P.M. EST.

Thanks for reading!
-Anthony-

Pandora's Tower - One of the Last Major Wii Titles

Title: Pandora's Tower
Genre: Action, Role Playing
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer(s): Ganbarion & Nintendo

Publisher(s): Nintendo & XSEED Games

Release date: March 26, 2013

Even though that Nintendo's latest console, the Wii U has been released and out for a few months, developers will shift to work on games for the Wii U rather than the Wii. However, the Wii in this case, while  only getting a few games this year, will still have a surprise up it's sleeve, and in this case, it's Pandora's Tower.

Originally released in Japan in May 2011, Pandora's Tower follows the story the story of Aeron, a man who must travel through a series of towers in order to break a curse on his girlfriend Elena by defeating bosses known as Master Beasts in order to reverse Elena's curse.

Pandora's Tower was not initally going to be released overseas (both in America and Europe) due to the lack of general marketing in the west. However a group of people started a campaign known as Operation Rainfall in order to bring this game, along with two others: Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story, all of them being RPGs (Role-Playing Games), with XSEED publishing the latter of of the two.

So the campaign that simply started as a small group at IGN is now three for three in their original operation (which has now expanded with other similar campaigns to release games to the west).

You can pre-order Pandora's Tower on Amazon or Gamestop for $40.

Trailer for Pandora's Tower (NOTE: This is from the European trailer, not US)



Thanks for reading this! More stuff coming your way!
-Anthony-