Once thought dead, 'Net neutrality roars back to center stage

Network neutrality has lost some steam, but the boilers have returned to full pressure after two senators ask Congress for an investigation. AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast have only themselves to blame.

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The ReacTable Demo...

The vid is a year old, but it's still really fun to watch. Just thought I'd look back on this after all the recent hype surround table top computers over the summer.



We've been doing this "Minority Report" thing for a while now...

Full list of Rock Band’s licensed songs

IGN has the full list of every song initially available in Rock Band, although there are some as yet unrevealed tracks that can be unlocked and there will be even more through downloadable content. However, while we may not know those tracks, here is the complete licensed track list revealed so far, organized by year.



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GameSpot Interviews Jeronimo Barrera on Manhunt, ESRB

First off, if you haven't seen "This Film is Not Yet Rated" (wiki), I would HIGHly recommend checking it out. It seems to me that the challenges formerly faced by the music industry (leading to explicit lyrics stickers) and the movie industry (leading to the MPAA's ratings board), are now hitting video games. Hard.

What's frustrating is there are ratings for games. The ESRB clearly marks all games. Commercials routinely state the appropriate ages for the game ("E for Everyone" or "T for Teen"). Why isn't anyone paying attention?
I can appreciate that the tech landscape can be a little confusing, nay daunting, but we've already learned this lesson. Why MUST we continue to go through this histrionic cycle every time the landscape of media evolves slightly.

*Disturbing art hasn't ruined America.
*Provocative literature hasn't messed us up.
*Jazz didn't destroy America.
*Radio shock jocks haven't destroyed America.
*Rock-n-roll didn't destroy America
*Rap hasn't destroyed America.
*Violent movies haven't taken us down.

So obviously it'll be the video games that bring us crashing down?

We're again subjected to this mass hysteria of very loud, opportunistic, individuals (making up a very small piece of the population) trying to convince anyone who will listen that, even though we've re-learned these lessons MANY times over, what would be best for the children of this country is to have the government goose-step in and censor content.

This is simply unacceptable.

Anywho, Gamespot has a fantastic interview with Jeronimo Barrera (what a friggin awesome name) regarding the challenges they went through with Manhunt 2 (a game not unlike the SAW movies). Originally it was given an Adults Only (AO) pretty much on strength of reputation (with no notes given on what would help reduce that rating to an "M" or Mature). This is exactly like giving a movie an NC-17, which severely impacts the games distribution.

Of course my favorite part is his description of the audio:

JB: The real star of the game is the audio. Not only
does it play an important part of the gameplay, it sets the tone and
mood for every single experience we throw at the player. We learned so
much from the original Manhunt and knew going into writing the dialogue
what works well in the game. The emphasis [is] on making the
interactions (especially of the Hunters) seem real but so twisted that
we blur the lines and it truly comes off sounding psychotic and at
times very funny. We hope we have surpassed expectations by maintaining
the production quality all Rockstar games have and at the same time
increasing the variety of situations people speak in, which aligned to
improvements in the AI that should lead to a game world that feels more
"alive."

But the PS2 version still has headset functionality! This
really helps to enhance the experience. You'll hear Leo, and you can
use the mic to make sounds that attract the Hunters. On the Wii, we use
the speaker on the Wii-Mote in interesting ways too.

Give the interview a read here!

New iPod Touch Commercial made by Apple Fanboi

Wow!
Usually Apple just steals an ad it likes...

Check out this vid from Nick Haley. It's pretty good, and totally fits in with Apple's advertising aesthetic.



According to the NYTimes He's going to be working with TBWA/Chiat/Day to do a high-def version.
I think it's pretty cool to see. The general perception is that user created ads are garbage, but good content is good content.



Read the NY TIMES article here.

Portal Songwriter Jonathan Coulton on 'Still Alive'

We caught up with the writer and creator of Portal's legendary end-game credit track, geek troubadour extraordinaire Jonathan Coulton, who filled us in on conceptualizing ‘Still Alive,’ what it was like working with Valve, and his fine appreciation of cake.

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"Shapes Using Sound Effects" (AKA Cymatics) @ Meta Cafe

OK, so these videos aren't new, but watching a good Chladni plate demo is always fun...



Shapes Using Sound Effects - The funniest videos are a click away

Gaming Angels Interviews David Sobolov and David Pizzuto

These two guys have been working EXTREMELY hard at getting actors a better deal on video game work, and I'm very proud to say I know them.

Gameangels has the first half of a great interview up. They spoke with David and David at the Game Developer Conference in Austin about some of the challenges facing this industry. It's a great read, and I highly recommend checking it out if you're interested at all in what it takes to get a game made these days.

Read the interview here.

They also touched on briefly, the possible WGA strike, and I think David Pizzuto's thoughts sum it up fine:

Due to legal reasons, they were not able to comment on the impending strike by the Writers Guild of America. However, David P. summed up his personal feelings of strikes in general by saying, "As a performer, it makes people in the town nervous. Even the mention of the "S" word makes people crazy. You see production ramp up and you see a lot of emotional reaction as opposed to appropriate response." Mark concluded, "Consumers don't want that, producers don't want that, actors don't want that. Everybody wants to do business and play games and watch movies and see TV shows. The world's a happy place when that happens."

Well done. Couldnt've said it better myself...

Punctuation lesson for the day: Interrobang (‽)

I want to see more of this little punctuation mark in commercial copy...

The interrobang (/ɪn'tɛrəbæŋ/) (‽) is a rarely used, nonstandard English-language punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of the question mark (also called the interrogative point) and the exclamation mark (known in printers' jargon as the bang). The typographical
character is a superimposition of those two marks. The same effect is
also frequently achieved by placing the exclamation point before or
after the question mark; e.g., "How could you do such a thing!?" or
"How could you do such a thing?!"

Full Wiki HERE ‽‽‽

Everything's Coming up Portal!

No really EVERYTHING. I'm still plugging away on Episode 1, but it's hard not to fire up Portal when Steam comes up...

Anywho if you've been needing to links to any and all Portal content that there could be head on over to geekanerd. They have a mega post up with practically every Portal related content link you could find.

THIS WAS A TRIUMPH...

And just for kicks, here's the first of 3 Youtube videos if you only want GLaDOS' dialog. The other two vids are on the link...all 25 minutes of it...

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1776...

Gotta love Robot Chicken!



THIS ... IS ... AH - MER - ICA!!!!!

Heheh, teh funnie...

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***EDIT***

D'oh! They pulled that vid quick! Guess you'll just have to grab a DVD box set or something...

Library of Congress to start archiving video games

Heck yeah!
Take THAT Roger Ebert.

Kotaku has an impressive write up of the whole affair.

But today we have a different story for you with a very different
ending. The fact of the matter is, according to The Library of
Congress, video games are just as important to our historical past as
literature, movies and music. And at the moment, the LoC is teaming up
with major universities across the country to begin a 2-year initiative
with the sole intent of figuring out just how institutions can preserve
video games for years to come, while making the content accessible for
use and study.

Heck Yeah!

This is perfeck. Evolving from the days of Atari, gaming has consistently proved a culturally motivating force. It will be where our experimental media comes from, experimental storytelling, experimental anything. To deny the impact of gaming is shortsighted, and well, silly...

Read the story up at Kotaku, it's pretty great...

Heck Yeah!

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Superman Screenwriters Not Returning for Sequel

Ok, so maybe pic of crying Superman is a bit much. Maybe this isn't such a bad idea. I think the main problem with Superman Returns (aside from not giving us a good villain) was it's maudlin tone.
That's great for Batman or X-Men, but I just don't think it works well for Supes...

Superman Returns screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris have opted not to come back and pen a sequel, according to Variety. What does this mean about the future of Superman? Will Bryan Singer soon depart from the project? The duo also worked with Singer on X2: X-Men United, and Trick ‘r Treat (which Brian produced).

read more | digg story


From slashfilm.com:

Many people around Hollywood believe that the studio would like to “start fresh with a new take on the Man of Steel, as if the previous pic never happened.” Some rumors claim that the studio is interesting in replacing Returns star Brandon Routh and pulling a reboot/remake, much like Universal are doing with The Incredible Hulk.

OUCH...

GameZombie.TV Interviews David Sobolov

First off, it's Game Zombie. That's just cool since I'm a sucker for zombie flicks.

***[Ed. note, Game Zombie has NOTHING to do with the Zombie movies linked to above. Audio Guy's just a big ole nerd.]***

Secondly it's David Sobolov. A pretty cool guy, I've had the pleasure of meeting, and is pretty much video game VO elite. If you've played anything in the last 9 years, you've probably heard this guy's voice.

Thirdly it's on Revver, so you ... uh ... can watch it...

Not bad at all: Winamp 5.5

Hey all!
Not really new news, but I've been playing with Winamp 5.5, and it's kinda nice.

They've updated the skin support, the program loads a lot faster, and they've kept my favorite feature: the ability to put music on AND TAKE MUSIC BACK OFF my ipod.

If you've ever wanted to swap music with your iPod, or back up your ipod on another computer, Winamp is hands down the easiest way to do it.

The new Bento skin's transparency is nice and Vista-y too.



If you're into media players, I highly recommend checking Winamp out. It's an oldie, but a goodie!

WINAMP.COM

It's not quite Wizard of Oz and Dark Side...

You should head over to Puddlegum right now if you've been following the In Rainbows release. Apparently there's more to the album than originally thought...

Consider that In Rainbows was meant to complement OK Computer, musically, lyrically, and in structure. We found that the two albums can be knit together beautifully. By combining the tracks to form one playlist, 01 and 10, we have a remarkable listening experience. The transitions between the songs are astounding, and it appears that this was done purposefully.

The lyrics also seem to complement each other. There appears to be a concept flowing through the 01 and 10 playlist. Ideas in one song is picked up by the next, such as “Pull me out of the aircrash,” and “When I’m at the pearly gates, this will be my videotape.”

I'm trying it out now (alternating tracks between OK Computer and In Rainbows), and it does seem to work pretty well. As if I needed another reason to break out my Radiohead collection...

Read the whole article here. It's pretty crazy...


***EDIT***

Just caught this over at the Mortigi Tempo Forums from poster Limnophilia:

As Penny pointed out in

http://www.mortigitempo.com/too_bore...ad.php?t=67000

the album title can be heard in the backing vocals of Reckoner.

BUT, did anyone notice the

IN RAAAAAAAIN
IN RAAAAAAAIN
IN RAAAAAAAINNNNN IN RAAAAAAAIN
IN RAAAAAAAINBOWS

starts precisely at the albums golden section??? I've got fucking chills; can anyone concur?

The Golden Section, Golden Ratio, whatever you want to call it is appears at 1/1.618, or about 61.8% of a way through of a work of art. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

In Rainbows is 42m 34s, or 2554 seconds long. 2554/1.618 is the 1578th or so second of the album, which is 2m49s into Reckoner, precisely when the strings come in with the album title.

I can't believe that is coincidental...can anyone confirm?

Whoa... Chills...
Maybe I SHOULD find my copy of the Wizard of Oz...

Microsoft Windows Sound Design

Fun little vid showing the different start screens and start up sounds for Windows.

I think it's kinda funny since windows 95 was the last operating system I left system sounds on for. Anytime I work on a computer now I eliminate all system sounds unless they're ones I've recorded/collected myself...

Easy like Sunday Morning...

OK, more like Sunday afternoon...

Just taking a break from HL2:Ep1 (I know, I finally put down Portal) to catch this sight...



Think I'm going to go join him...

Here We GO! WGA Authorizes Strike

I really hope WGA doesn't strike...

The guild's vote shows a devastating majority support the strike.

I estimated about 80%, and of the 5500 members who voted, 90% voted for (on a quick tangent I find it interesting that, like elections only about half of those eligible to vote actually voted).

I appreciate the hard line tactics.
Previous contracts have hosed actors, writers, and directors for about two decades now. I hope this leads to actual talks at the table, some leverage, but I really think a strike will weaken our position. Push production to non-union (especially video games and "new media", it's just too easy).

We'll just have to see...

LA Times has a pretty good write up on the current situation here.

Know your Audio: Van Halen Synth Track Glitch

This was a great submission from a reader:

Hey SomeAudioGuy, Giz has a story up about Van Halen f*cking up their concert. What WAS that...-S.H.

Apparently they decided to pre-record the synth intro to Jump, but on playback the sample rates weren't correct, and it leads to a spectacular train wreck on stage.

Giz has video here (I'd embed here but it's not on Youtube)!

So what happened?

According to the article the the synth was played at 48KHz, instead of 44.1KHz.

But what does that mean AudioGuy?

Well, that's a good question. Ya see Timmy, digital audio is a lot like film.
When you go to a movie what you are actually seeing are individual pictures playing really quickly after each other. To be specific, film travels at 24 frames per second, so every second you're actually seeing 24 pictures. Like a flip book, those pictures become movement as the eye has a hard time adjusting.

Great Guy, but we're talking about sound...

*sigh*

Right, see audio is also stored as slices of information per second, only there are a helluva lot more of them. This is know as the "sample rate". The more samples per second, the more "complete" the sound will be (just like video, the more frames per second the smoother the video). Standard audio CD's have a sample rate of 44.1KHz. Thats 44.1 KILO-Hertz. A "hertz" is a fancy way of saying "cycle per second" (1Hz = 1 cycle per second). A "kilo" of something is a thousand of something, so a KHz is a thousand cycles per second.

That means every second you listen to a cd @ 44.1KHz, you are actually listening to 44,100 slices of sound!

But Van Halen?

Yes yes, so if you record something at one sample rate, but play it back at another, it will change how the music sounds.
Going back to the movie analogy, old movies were shot at 16 frames per second. Well the eye can actually see that flicker between pictures, so over time it evolved to 24 for film (29.97 for DVD, and video games routinely reach 60+ fps). However what happens when you play back an old movie using modern gear?
The modern gear will play back at 24 frames. Thats 8 frames per second, or about 30% faster, than it should. That's why Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton movies are so jerky and "sped up".

Movies AGAIN AudioGuy?

Geez, a little patience...
So the intro to Jump was audio at 44.1KHz, but being played at 48KHz. This will speed up the tempo, and by increasing the frequency, will also raise the pitch. As this isn't a huge increase, it wont sound like the chipmunks, but it will frak up all of the instrument tuning. As you can hear Diamond Dave, Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang couldn't quite adjust to the change, as the synthesizer was now just a smidge sharp (prolly about 10%)...

Oh, well why didn't so just say so?

*Sigh*

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10 Terrible Comeback Singles

I've said it before, I'm a sucker for top ten lists...

Sometimes, when a musician is away from his or her craft for a while and returns, everything falls back into place. Sometimes, though, the song they release makes you want to go back in time and kill their parents, as we've seen with Britney Spears' attempt at a comeback, "Gimme More." These songs are further examples of the latter...

read more | digg story

Though I do disagree with Weezer being on the list.

That's obvious flame bait.

Weezer forever!

Four new innovative voicemail apps - awesome features!

Want to record a customized voicemail greeting for each person in your phonebook? What about a service that notifies you when someone has listened to a voicemail you left them? These four apps let you do these and more.

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Hollywood Line Up for Turok

It's all video game news tonight.

A quick follow up to the Wendee Lee interview I JUST posted, apparently the new Turok game's got it's self a nice little star studded cast...

There's no shortage of talent on the roster of voice actors for Turok,
due out February 5th for 360 and PS3. The name of Gregory Norman Cruz,
Turok himself, might not be familiar to you, but the other members of
Whiskey Company include the likes of Timothy Olyphant (who also plays
Agent 47 in the Hitman movie), Powers Boothe, Ron Perlman, and Donnie Wahlberg.

The other actors featured are long-time TV vets, including Prison
Break's William Fichtner and Stargate SG-1's Chris Judge, or video game
voice acting pros, like Gideon Emery, Steve Van Wormer, and Sean
Donellan.

From the Wired Games Blog

Gamasutra Interviews Wendee Lee

Yup,
That Wendee Lee. Pretty much video game/animation voice over royalty.

It's a good interview talking about the challenges facing this emerging medium.

This part was my fave:

G: They've only started to hire real actors for games in the new millenium, like with Grand Theft Auto 3, so these concerns are new to gaming, aren't they?

WL: There certainly has been a big change in the way that we recorded in the 90’s and how we’re recording now. That’s really true.

I’m always curious how the audience perceives, say, celebrity talent
versus voice actors, or actors who also do voice-over, that understand
that skill that it takes to really put all of your performance into
your voice, which not all acting requires. There’s generally much more
subtlety for cinema, for film, and I always feel we should leave it to
the professionals who do this!

G: In the case of a game like Yakuza, for instance, and no
offense to certain people, there was a lot of big name voice talent in
it – not voice talent, like, acting talent, and they weren't
necessarily the best fit for it. Unless you’ve got a game like Shrek. Of course you wanna have Mike Myers doing the friggin’ thing –

WL: Right, right. He’s gotta be the green guy.

G: It’s gotta be him, or else it’s stupid. But I think in the case of an original game, you really don’t need that.

WL: I think that’s a really good point. I would like to hear that more
often! You know, it’s kind of a problem for voice actors, because in
the last 5, 8 years, maybe even longer, more and more celebrities with
children want to be involved in entertainment that’s sort of geared for
that – now I’m thinking in terms of animation and so forth, not just
strictly games – and often we feel disappointed that we weren’t given
at least a shot, or we weren’t even in the running.
I feel that’s more of a Hollywood move, to sort of attach names to
titles. And they can work out. But often we feel like we could deliver
something a little more accurate, and it’s infringed on some of our
workbase.
To no fault of anyone, I think a lot of companies tried the celebrity
route. And I think it needed to be exercised to get a feel for how it
works. There’s nothing wrong with giving it a shot.
But I have to be honest: I auditioned for Shrek as a voice replacement for some of the main characters.
And I think that some of the studios are coming around to understand;
one: celebrities aren’t always available for voicing, and when I was a
voice director for live action, the last thing actors want to one their
days off is to come in and do their own ADR.
So then to also be tied to a title that requires multiple days in a
studio, often a celebrity’s schedule doesn’t allow, and they sometimes
feel, to me, that they’re in over their heads. Because there’s so much
screaming, and fighting, and impacts, and reactions, that are nuances
that we have practiced for years and years, and are new to people that
aren’t voice actors.

I totally agree with that. I think celebs can be important to moving any property, but if the voice doesn't quite fit, or isn't quite right, it'll just prove distracting. Sometimes I think even replacing a celeb voice on a game can be better for the game as a whole.

Read the rest of the interview here @ Gamasutra!

Stories From the Golden Compass Video Game

A pretty good article written up by "Asset Wrangler" David Allen, on producing the voice over portion of The Golden Compass video game.

...Before we get into that, I’m going to tell you a bit about the process
involved in doing voice-overs for videogames. I totally underestimated
how time consuming and complex this process is, especially on a game
that’s going to be as BIG as The Golden Compass (I hope), where you’ve
got a myriad of languages to translate during production. It’s a big
deal and it’s the single thing on the project that has taken up most of
my time. Apart from eating the excellent lunch on the movie set. Did I
mention that already? I don’t think even my colleagues realize how much
time is involved in doing the voice-over -- apart from Gabriel, the
game’s producer (big cheese), Josh who helped us out in managing the
process and Katrin who is in charge of all the localization needed for
foreign language versions of the game.


Gabriel fully shared the pain, and then some, in getting this part
of the project off the ground. I naively thought that we’d make a few
calls, chew the cud with a few Hollywood types, maybe do lunch and get
the job done. Oh no my friend… A LOT of work. A LOT of back and forth.
A LOT of to-ing and fro-ing. Voice-over was one the first things I
started working on when I first set foot on American soil back in
February. We did the final record session in the middle of September.
Yep, it took that long to get it all together. I don’t want to bore you
with too much detail but there are so many things to deal with when
managing the voice-over process. This is even before you get to the
good bit of sitting outside a glass box watching someone pretend to be
a dying Tartar while wearing headphones and shouting into a microphone.
There’s a certain way of doing things in this business that I don’t
really understand. There’s a lot of negotiation and maneuvering. You
need people who know how to play the “Hollywood” game. I definitely do
not have the patience for it. Fortunately, the guys at Blindlight --
whom we enlisted to help us -- know the game well and they’ve been
through this a million times.

Cool, Shout-out for Blindlight (who are really awesome to work with BTW), but I wish the article had at least mentioned one VO talent by name...

*sigh*

Anywho, the article is a good read, if nothing else then to get a sense of the scale involved in putting these things together.

Yup It's movie big now...

THE GOLDEN COMPASS - VOICE OVER @ IGN

Zero Punctuation Reviews the Orange Box

I love Yahtzee, he talks fast... REALLY fast...




All I gotta say is I agree with everything he had to say about Portal. EVERYTHING!

I'd comment on his review of the other two games, but I haven't played them yet.

Cuz ... I'm still only playing Portal...



I like how he gets cake with his portal in the review...prolly moist and delicious...with his bathroom sign animation...

Studios and Writers getting closer to a deal

I really hope WGA doesn't strike. I just don't see how it'll actually help things right now.

That being said, it looks like we're one step closer to preventing that from happening.

Story going up everywhere (I just happened to catch it first on the Wall Street Journal), it looks like the AMPTP withdrew one of its residual proposals:

The move by the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers
marks the first concession from either side in contract talks that have
become increasingly hostile in recent weeks, increasing the possibility
of a walkout by the 12,000 voting members of the WGA on Nov. 1. The
AMPTP withdrew a controversial proposal to withhold the payment of
residuals until after a specific television show or film had recouped
its cost.

It's kinda funny to me as this is exactly what I've been asking for for video game residuals...

I guess it's reasonable to be weary of the bookkeeping given fairly recent shenanigans, but I'm glad to see at least one major point of contention fall by the wayside.

Read the rest here (@WSJ Online)!

THE CAKE IS A LIE...

WARNING: LOTS of Portal spoilers ahead!

You've been warned!

So man, there was actually stuff to post about this weekend. WGA and all that non-sense, but every time I got in front of my keyboard I ended up just playing Portal.



"This was a TRIUMPH..."
I haven't been this excited for a game for a long time, and have been salivating over it since the first trailers hit Youtube. I picked up Orange Box, but have only played this since. I'll eventually get to HL2:Ep2, but for now I can't wait for 3rd party Portal maps.


The game is very cleverly laid out. It introduces complex mechanics in an easy to understand way so that, by the end of the game, you really feel you're controlling some pretty impossible concepts. It's one of the first games of recent memory where I could genuinely beat it without having to look up a game walkthrough or use a cheat.

That's really saying a lot. At it's heart the game is really a box and puzzle game, like sokoban on 'roids, but game play gets really advanced by the end. The learning curve is steady and very un-intimidating, so by the end when you're making multiple velocity jumps, redirecting rockets, grabbing items out of mid air, and teleporting all over a room filling with "deadly neuro-toxin", you're not really that stressed out. You're just focused on your timing (video linked is not me BTW).

I have to credit the writing and voiceover for a large part of the mood. Sure level design is extremely important, but you see there's only one voice you hear throughout the whole game.
The voice of the GLaDOS computer that is running you through all of these "CUBE" -like tests (WONDERFULLY voiced by Ellen McClain). It's really funny in a dry, HAL 9000, kinda way, as it promises to give you cake, makes you kill your "best friend" (*sob* W.C.C. *schniff* rest in peace), and even jokes about trying to murder you.
Even as you're tearing "her" to pieces, she seems almost proud of you for doing it.
The game gets dark and eerie, but it's never too much to handle. Never too stressful.

It's just plain fun.

What a concept right? Remember when games were fun?



So if you're looking for a fun little pick-me-up, I highly recommend Portal. It's great for just a couple quick levels, or as a fun way to kill a couple hours (my first run through the story only took a hair over 3 hours), and you have to play through at least twice as there are some great developer commentaries available once you beat the game (what can I say, I'm a special-features nerd).

For kicks here's the end credits song (which I can't get out of my head). I picked this version since you can actually read the lyrics, but the sound sucks.
"Still Alive" sung by Ellen McLain and written by Jonathan Coulton:



Since the sound sucks, here's just the audio:







"Maybe Black Mesa..." HAHAHA!

NPR Podcast: "Video-Game Actors Seek a Bigger Share of Profits"

OK, I know the title is kinda "duh". Of COURSE performers are going to want a bigger share of profits, but NPR does a really decent job of explaining why.

When you examen the economies involved on video gaming, it's getting harder to deny that actors should receive either a better buy out or some small residual pool.

I know it's an extreme example of success, but Halo 3's sales are indicative of where "block buster" money is going (since it's not going to movie studios).
*First Day estimates of $170 Million (Spiderman 3 did 150 it's opening WEEKEND).
*First Week Sales of $300 Million (or roughly three times the total box office).
*Drove console sales, resulting in an average doubling of XBox 360's sold week over week.
*Estimated 4500 years of man-hours spent on XBox Live.

So what did the actors get paid?
Well outside of those on the IMDB page for H3, most likely some derivative of scale.
Best case being maybe 3x scale, or about $2100 per four hour recording session, and I doubt that many were paid that well.

And that's it. Nothing else.

One of the big arguments against residuals is risk. Game producers are never guaranteed revenue, and with budgets now approaching and exceeding movie budgets, it can be a scary proposition to put out a game that people might not buy. Production also claims that there wont be additional revenues like movies have (from theatrical, to cable, to DVD, etc).

Fair enough, but I think games do enjoy additional revenues. They're all just game related. Halo 3 is currently a $60 game exclusive on the XBox 360. If MS is smart they'll cut prices on the game around the same time as a big PS3 game comes out (so we should see a brief surge). Next we should see a three game special edition box set with all of the Halo games, so we can re-buy all of that content. After a couple months the game should be ported to Windows PC's, where we'll see another small market surge for the game. So, even if Halo 3 had a $100 million production budget, it was already into profit territory in the first day, and we'll probably see about a year's worth of sales.

I mean even the Wii will play old original Nintendo games at about $5 a pop, so I'm not sure how that's not additional revenues...

Now to be fair, Halo 3 is the exception not the rule. Halo was also made by Bungie, which is owned by Microsoft (well not any more, but at the time), so all of that profit is probably being rolled back into the fact that MS sells it's console at a loss (as does Sony, but not Nintendo).
However, all that being said, I still feel like there is some room to start including baby-step residuals into these contracts. Why not set up the pool after production costs have been met? Basically anything to further reward products that do well, which would attract more talent, probably improve the product, sell more games, attract more talent, etc, etc, etc.

Anywho, here's the link to NPR's story. Give it a listen.

MAN, that was A LOT of typing...

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WARNING! INTENSE GEEKERY! DALEK VOICE CHANGING MASK!!!

I KNOW!
It's Awesome!

I'm not sure which is better, this or the Optimus Prime mask.



I didn't even like the episode that much, but I think I need this...

The mask, modelled on a one-eyed Dalek-human hybrid which appeared in
the episode Daleks in Manhattan, changes the voice of the wearer to the
metallic scream of the doctor's mortal enemies. Games based on films
and TV characters will fill Santa's sack this year, according to toy
manufacturers who made their annual prediction of Christmas
best-sellers yesterday.

Full Write up @ The Guardian

AudioGuy's Horrible Dalek (yet awesome Cyberman) recording

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A Liberal Comeback

A liberal radio show host, Ed Schultz has the same size audience as Bill O'Reilly. And they thought liberal radio shows would never survive...

read more | digg story

In Rainbows...

It's been a shit day. Truly. At least I've finally gotten my hands on a copy of In Rainbows.

I'm kind of a casual fan of Radiohead. They find regular rotation on the iPod, but it's always an "oh right I should put them on" kind of reaction, never a first impulse kind of thing. That and they've never been a background noise kinda band for me. Like 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination' or 'i robot' or 'Dark Side of the Moon' I put on Radiohead when I want to LISTEN to music. Unfortunately it seems like I get less and less time to just listen, so that chunk of my collection gets less and less play time. Prolly getting moldy...

So far this is a great Radiohead album. If you're not a fan, then it wont do anything for you, but if you are I'd say it's right up there with Kid A.
15 Step and Bodysnatchers lead off some great beat deconstruction, and showcase just how good this group is at creating mellow yet totally schizophrenic rhythms. I especially like the reaffirming tone of 15 Step. It feels like a re-dedication...
Nude's minstrel-like qualities are refreshing, intimate, and I was glad the piece didn't get too maudlin or sappy.
Can't say I'm loving Weird Fishes. It's plinky, light, and while it builds into a great run at the end, it feels like too long for too little...
I have to say that All I Need kinda took me by surprise. The dark plodding ring mod rhythm left me unprepared for the lyrical vulnerability. It's not quite Creep, but it's close...
Faust Arp is disgustingly gorgeous. I'm such a sucker for strings and acoustic guitar (like the second disc of 'In Your Honor').They always catch me right between the lungs...
Reckoner reminds me a little of the Beta Band. I love that! The kind of song that makes me wish it rained more in L.A. I'd say more, but I'm too busy closing my eyes...
House of Cards is kinda meh for me. It makes me want to fire up the Johnny Nash 'I Can see Clearly'. It's not a bad song, but it just doesn't go anywhere for me. One of the few times where mating their mellow and intimate tone to a fairly quick back beat just doesn't appeal...
Jigsaw Falling Into Place had me bobbing my head right from the get go. A little touch of Depeche Mode and the Violent Femmes.
Videotape is haunting and pretty and tragic. Blue Man Group's 'Exhibit 13' comes to mind...



So what is all this? What's the point? Is this as groundbreaking or revolutionary as OK Computer?
Yes and No.
I can't say the music is. I can get lost in OK Computer, and In Rainbows just doesn't open my eyes as much.
What is very exciting though is this is an extremely polished and competent work from a group on top of their game. This isn't after-thought music. This isn't a collection of random recordings or crappy B-Sides. This isn't an "experiment". It's real, a real album, and the way it's being distributed is earth-shaking.


It's a scary day for the record labels...


WOw, so if you read all that, then gawdblessya, cuz I really have no business reviewing music...

More Bands Following Radioheads Example

So of course there's the NIN announcement, but the Telegraph is reporting on even more groups wading in after Radiohead (you should actually be downloading their new album now instead of reading this, unless you're reading this while WAITING to download their new album). For me, this is probably the most exciting development in distribution since the original Napster debuted.

Oasis has already announced that its next single, Lord Don’t Slow Me
Down, will be available only to download for 99 pence. Meanwhile
rumours abound that Madness, a band with a loyal fanbase amongst
40-somethings, is considering giving away its next album for free.

MADNESS?!?!?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?
ONE STEP BEYOND?!?!?!
I'M SO THERE!!!


*ahem*

Labels are going to have to get savvy PDQ, or they'll be going away.

And right now, I can't really say they'd be missed...

READ THE REST @ TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

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Videos Games set to Orchestrated Music

I'm a sucker for this stuff...


Video Games Orchestrated - Watch more free videos

In Rainbows is up for Download!

Well sorta anyway...

I'm currently watching the little firefox spinning thingy just twirl away as the page wont load. I can only assume that every tech savvy music fan on the web is hitting this poor little server all at once.

In the time it's taken me to type this out I've made NO progress on loading the page. None.

As soon as I can get my hands on it I'll write about (for 7 of you who care what I think), but I'll tell ya, the anticipation is killing me. Early reviews are praising this album.

Such an awesome experiment, even if you aren't a Radiohead fan, I still recommend you go and check the album out.


DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM HERE

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Trent Reznor splits from Universal Music, goes completely independent

Hot on the heels of the EMI story I JUST posted on, comes this gem just BURNING up Digg (about 4500 so far):

No doubt as a reaction to all the bad press he's been giving record labels, Universal/Interscope has relieved Trent Reznor of his contractual duties. As of today, Nine Inch Nails is working without a useless money-grubbing middleman and going straight to the fans. The revolution continues...

read more | digg story

Maybe a revolution IS finally brewing.

I for one welcome our new label-less music over-lords...

One of the fastest picking guitarists...

I'm not a huge fan of Metal, but this is just amazing to watch.

I present Yngwie Malmsteen, literally just putzing along:




Too frakkin cool...

Long Live Wilhelm

I dig the Wilhelm Scream.
It's pretty much awesome.

It is surprising how often it creeps up, but it seems to be a staple of movie making (or at least ADR), especially for how long this little sound effect has been around.
From Wiki:

The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the movie Distant Drums. Actor-singer Sheb Wooley is considered to be the most likely voice actor for the scream, having appeared on a memo as a voice extra for the movie.
The Wilhelm scream has been featured in many movies and television programs since. Alongside a certain recording of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk, the "Universal telephone ring"[1], the Goofy holler and "Castle thunder," it is probably one of the best-known cinematic sound clichés.

Finding this Youtube clip was a joy. Funny just how many modern films/TV shows are still employing it today (though it gets kinda grating when you hear it back to back to back).

SO, check the clip out, and you'll never be able to see a film again without picking up on a scream that's been used for over 50 years!

HAHA!
***EDIT***

Just caught this on Digg from user 'bettereth'

Yeah I was totally about to say "no effing way", but imdb has a list of the movies it's in: http://www.imdb.com/keyword/wilhelm-scream/

'Hands tells EMI staff to "WAKE UP"'

Sent to me from Mrs. Audio Guy (thanks Hon)!

Story out of Variety, apparently Guy Hands (chairman of Terra Firma, the new owners of EMI) is telling his staff to wake up and get with!

Following the developments of iTunes, P2P, and most recently Radiohead's decision to forgo traditional studio support in releasing it's latest album (and asking fans to only pay what they think it's worth), Hands appears ready to turn the entire music industry on it's ear.

Hands wrote: "Rather than embracing digitalization and the
opportunities it brings for promotion of product and distribution
through multiple channels, the industry has stuck its head in the sand."
The Terra Firma boss believes that other EMI acts and their managers will
be following the Radiohead initiative closely to see whether such a
business model can earn musicians more money than following the
traditional record company route.
"Why should (established acts) subsidize their label's new talent roster — or for that matter their record company's excessive expenditures and advances?" Hands said in his memo.

This is very encouraging. It's one thing to have peripheral acts like The Bare Naked Ladies and The Grateful Dead supporting radical distribution of music, but to have the head of a major label practically daring the rest of the music industry (and challenging their mistakes) is down right awesome. Between this and their stance on DRM, EMI is shaping up to be the most forward thinking label in music.

The formal distribution of music can not become a free service or a loss leader. If there's no incentive to craft an album, if artists can not benefit from the distribution of their content, then we'll be headed for a musical dark ages.

READ THE REST HERE @ VARIETY

Heh-heh, turn the industry on it's "ear" ...

A Really Fun Audio Illusion...

Play this video.
As soon as the video is done playing, immediately play it again.



AMAZING Audio Illusion - More free videos are here


Pretty neat, huh?



A little TOO neat...



hmmmm...

SomeAudioGuy Reads you a Poem, a ROMANTIC Poem!

Maybe some day I'll record something that isn't Poe...

Who knows?

It COULD happen...

Anywho, here's 'To Helen (ii)' by E.A. Poe. Enjoy!



And keep an eye (ear?) out for some original work soon from the mysterious "PoetryGirl". It's pretty exciting stuff!!!

Blu-Ray Playback Problems Linked to Copy Protection?

You all know how I feel about DRM and copy protection.
I'm pretty much against any ACTIVE protection. I'm a big fan of watermarking and passive protection. Basically any protection that prevents people from playing the content equals, and anything that will link the content back to who originally owned it equals good.
I think content needs to be payed for, and if you buy something and are dumb enough to put it up on the web, well that's your problem...

My problem with active protection is that it doesn't work. It only prevents the paying customers from watching it the way they want to. Anyone who wants to get around it will.

Case in point, Sony's latest batch of Blu-Ray's "Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer" and "Day After Tomorrow", both chock full of Sony's latest copy protection, dont play well with older Blu-Ray players by Samsung and LG. There have been other problems reported with BD+ Copy Protection, but usually with special features content not the movies themselves.

Highdefdigest.com has the scoop:

The most severe problems have been reported on Samsung's BDP-1200
and LG's BH100, which are both said to be incapable of playing back the
discs at all. Less catastophic issues (error messages and playback
stutter) have been reported for Samsung's BDP-1000. The discs appear to
play back fine on all other Blu-ray players (including the PlayStation
3), although users have reported lengthy load times of up to two
minutes.
It has been widely speculated that these issues stem from the use of
BD+ copy protection on the two discs. We contacted Fox for comment, but
so far there's no official word from the studio.
Calls placed to both Samsung and LG customer support revealed that
both manufacturers are aware of the issue, and that both are working on
firmware updates to correct it. Samsung promised a firmware update
within "a couple" weeks, while LG said an update is expected in 3-4
days.

Read the rest here.

RIAA Rips Defendant in Nation's First Downloading Jury Trial

The Recording Industry Association of America thinks Jammie Thomas of Minnesota is Tereastarr, and liable for perhaps millions of dollars in damages in the nation's first RIAA copyright case to go to trial Tuesday.

read more | digg story

Unhelpful Robot for Skype and VOIP

Hey all!
Thanks for the positive feedback on UR.
I went back in to record a few more alerts for myself for Skype, VOIP, and Instant Messengers.
You can download them here:
VOIP TONES FOR UnHelpFul RoBot

Take a listen:


And you can download the original batch of U.R. HERE.