First, we are running a months-long daily challenge wherein we pit two great game tunes against one another and will eventually whittle down the list to determine the raddest game music of all time. I need for you to go and vote, often. Daily, in fact. For instance, right now there’s a Command and Conquer tune barely edging ahead of Bionic Commando: Rearmed‘s “Heat Wave,” and I feel that many people would find this state of affairs unacceptable if only they were aware of it.
Secondly, Thierry Nguyen and I are planning to rip off The Amazing Race this afternoon and see who can make it across Skyrim the fastest. This is basically an excuse to play Skyrim on the clock. You should watch it.
Finally, Matt Leone tracked down the guy who essentially created the fighting game genre and talked him into giving his first public interview in more than a decade. I don’t think people realize how mind-blowing this is, so step back and have your mind blown, OK? OK.
It makes so much sense in retrospect that Fatal Fury was made by the same guy as Street Fighter. I can only imagine how maddening it was to endure the accusations that the former “ripped off” the latter.
I bought the BC: Rearmed soundtrack for Heatwave. Great tune.
I’m a super big SNK fan, and one of the reasons for that is that SNK has one of the most interesting histories in the game industry. Nishiyama’s one of my favorite game designers, and I really appreciated the interview.
Another reason I’m a big fan is the awesome rockin’ music they put out. I hope something cool got picked for the Game Music Battle
Guys, guys. Can’t we just get beyond Thunderdome?
I was thinking about calling the follow-up voting cycle “Rad Trax: Beyond Thunderdome.”
Nice try, Parrish, but I already cast my vote for Command & Conquer’s Majestic March, and I’m standing by it. There may not be much subtlety or nuance to it, but it has big, dumb guitars and samples of militaristic shouting set to the unsettling beat of a marching army. It’s fabulous. I used to load up Red Alert just to listen to that song.
You’re totally right about that Takashi Nishiyama interview, though.
That is a great interview, and also the only thing in recent memory posted on the Neo-Geo.com forums that hasn’t resulted in trash talking by the third reply. Cheers to Matt for making it happen.
Great interview! It must have been lousy to have to compete against his own creation.