You Are Here:  Home > Category > PlatinumGames

More Behind the Scenes of the MGR Soundtrack

May 2nd, 2013 by

METAL GEAR RISING

Filed: Community, Games, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, PlatinumGames

Hi all, JP here again with more behind-the-scenes of the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance soundtrack. 

First of all, a thank you for the overwhelming response to the previous blog. It has been great fun to read all of your comments regarding your favorite tracks, and it is clear to everyone here how much you love the soundtrack! Hopefully we get to make a second one… and even better!
Now on to the artists that we didn’t get to touch upon during the previous blog.

jcm
Jason rehearsing with Nita Strauss.

Jason Charles Miller
Jason is the incredibly tall and imposing singer behind the band God Head, but his geek credentials go far past that. He’s been a voice actor of tons of games, participated in gamer-focused Youtube video projects with the likes of Felicia Day (Gamer Girl, Country Boy), and is just generally tons of fun to hang out with.
Jason’s creativity and energy really brought an awesome spin to the MGR soundtrack. Rules of Nature would have never been Rules of Nature without his shouting and ability to change gears on the fly; however, he gets even more credit for Red Sun. Red Sun was actually going to be performed by a European speed metal singer, but an untimely stage accident prevented this from happening. We walked into the studio without a clue how to salvage the song, but Jason just stood in front of the mic and came up with an incredible take of Type-O Negative-style vocals that took the track in an entirely new direction. With Kenji Saito watching on via Skype we kept pushing further until we arrived at the final product. It became a weird combination of darkness and beauty that is the perfect fit for our dear friend Sundowner.
While Jason still has a metal streak in him, he is becoming increasingly successful at merging rock and roll music with his country roots. Make sure to check out his work before Nashville steals him away from games! You can listen to his work at http://www.jasoncharlesmiller.com or follow him on twitter at 

Kit Walters
Kit Walters is a far prettier man than I can ever hope to be. He is also more likely to melt your face off with awesome vocals. Just take a listen to Stains of Time or A Soul Can’t Be Cut. What is interesting about Kit is that his personal music lends more towards the pop/dance realm. That being said, Metal Gear Rising wouldn’t be what it is without him! Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the studio when Kit recorded his vocals, and he wasn’t able to make the live show, so I haven’t had the chance to meet him and congratulate him on the absolute ass-kicking job he did on Stains of Time. I guess I’ll just have to fix that next time. You can follow Kit at .

Jimmy Gnecco
Jimmy Gnecco is best known as the lead singer of Ours, a moody, incredible band that is touring the country right now. His talent is unquestionable and this has made him a prolific singer. From recording a duet for the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack with Brian Eno of Queen, to being one of the first choices to replace Scott Weiland in Velvet Revolver, Jimmy’s voice is so unique and his vocal range so incredible that you feel like you are being compelled to listen to his tracks just to hear what he sings next.
On MGR, we gave Jimmy the two-part task of bringing the final battle to life. What resulted was a track that many of you feel is the best on the CD, It Has To Be This Way, and it’s co-part Collective Conciousness. I’d write more about the tracks, but the best thing for you to do is just go listen to them. They say everything for themselves.
You can follow Jimmy’s exploits and get tourdates for Ours at http://www.jimmygnecco.com.

graeme
Graeme rehearsing with Johnny Death.

Graeme Cornies
A special shout-out to Graeme Cornies. Graeme runs a music production company in Toronto called Voodoo Highway that has produced music for film, tv, animation, commericals, and of course games! Not only does he sing three tracks on the soundtrack, more than any other singer, he also played guitars, wrote lyrics, and even co-wrote the end theme. Graeme is also a voice actor based in Toronto, so he is no stranger to gaming.
When schedules were tight and we needed a special touch, Graeme was the go-to guy, and he never disappointed. He was also the first singer we recorded for the project, in a multi-point Skype chat linking LA, Osaka, and Toronto together. Even with the distance separating us, hearing him sing “Time to leave them all behind!” over the internet was the first time that I knew for sure that our soundtrack was going to be special. Thanks for all the incredibly hard work under crazy circumstances, Graeme. I know you’ve made plenty of new fans because of it, not the least of which a room full of game developers in Osaka. You can follow Graeme on twitter at , and check out Voodoo Highway at http://www.voodoohighwaymusic.com.

Finally, I want to give a shout out to some of the session musicians who made both the soundtrack and the live show so amazing:

Ralph Alexander – Ralph is a young, up and coming drummer on the LA scene and was responsible for the amazing live drumming (along with Damien Rainaud) on the soundtrack. Yep, those were all live drums, and yep, he really is that good. Before he joins a mega-band, becomes famous, and quits taking our calls, I wanted to thank him publicly for all his hard work. You can follow Ralph and his crusade to bring more blues rock to the masses with his band The Heavy Heavy Hearts and download their first EP for free at: https://www.facebook.com/TheHeavyHeavyHearts

nita_strauss

Nita Strauss – If you have a guitar, you probably wish you could play like Nita. Unless, of course, you are Nita, and then you just make everyone look bad. When it came time to find someone to play the Dragonforce-style parts of Stains of Time, Nita was our first choice. In fact, I’ll never forget when Jamie said that he found “this girl who can really shred.” Understatement of the millennium. For updates on her bands Consume the Fire and The Iron Maidens, follow her category 5 mayhem at .

Johnny Death – Another man who plays guitar like he could rip your head off, and looks the part too. Johnny brought a really awesome edge to our tracks and our live show. He brings that same edge to his amazing band Before The Mourning, who just put out their first music video and also have a Free EP for download. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/BeforeTheMourning.

Finally, special thanks to Jussi Ilmari, Ron Underwood, and Howard Jones for stepping in and performing at the live show.

Jussi Ilmari is a highly in-demand songwriter/producer who has worked with everyone from Before the Mourning to FloRida to Paul Van Dyk! Follow him at !

theband
The band on stage with Ron.

Ron “Thunderwood” Underwood is the Thunder behind the mic for the LA band 9electric. 9electric is loud and awesome. If you like the MGR soundtrack, you are going to love their stuff. Check them out at http://www.9electric.com.

Howard Jones is most famous for being more awesome and famous than most modern metal singers. Being in Killswitch Engage will do that for you. Now he is on to his next project, but he was kind enough to fill-in for Jimmy Gnecco and rock “It Has To Be This Way” live for us. Also, he confessed to being a huge gamer on stage. Be sure to give his next project lots of love when it surfaces. (P.S. Sorry there isn’t any video of Howard’s performance! It was something special for attendees!)

There were so many talented musicians on the soundtrack and live show that it seems almost unfair to only shine the spotlight on a few of them. If I’ve offended you by your lack of inclusion, just leave me a nasty notes in the comments and I will be sure to plug your next project on my twitter or next blog post! I promise.

However, just in case I miss anyone, I wanted to share the full lyrics and credit list to the CD with everyone reading the blog. I know there has been some debate on the lyrics, and those of you who purchased the CD online didn’t get a booklet, so here is the next best thing! It also gets me off the hook because it has credits for everyone who performed on the CD!

DOWNLOAD THE LYRICS BOOKLET

That’s all she wrote folks! If you have any questions about the soundtrack, feel free to ask me on twitter!

P.S. Nope. I didn’t forget! Congrats to these three lucky fans who won signed CDs! Derek Rich, Mike Oshiro, and Andreas von Perbandt, we will be in touch to get your info!

1 Comment / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Launch Events

February 9th, 2013 by

METAL GEAR RISING

Filed: Community, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, PlatinumGames

Konami just announced details about North American and South American Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Launch Events.

You will be able to join PlatinumGames Producer Atsushi Inaba at the Los Angeles and Mexico City events, and the first 150 people to join the Los Angeles Event will be invited to a special launch party that will feature a live band performing the Metal Gear Rising soundtrack led by lead composer Jamie Christopherson! It will be an amazing event, so make sure to arrive early!

And make sure to follow PlatinumGames and JP on twitter for more details leading up to the event.

MGR Launch Event Media Alert_FINAL

7 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bayonetta Developer Commentary Part 56

February 6th, 2013 by

Bayonetta

Filed: Bayonetta, Community, Games, PGTV, PlatinumGames

The Bayonetta developer commentaries make the final turn as we enter Chapter 16 and Hideki Kamiya discusses the collaboration between Soundelux and PlatinumGames, from sound design to voice actors, in Part 56!

Be sure to watch the “Developer Commentary” tag for previous episodes. You can also get the videos delivered via iTunes or RSS.

Follow us for all the latest updates!

You can also send feedback about the videos to the production crew:

Special thanks to PlatinumGames international coordinator Andrew Brasher for the translation! Feel free to leave him love in the comments.

9 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nintendo Direct January 2013 Trailers

February 1st, 2013 by

Bayonetta 2

Filed: Bayonetta 2, Community, Games, PGTV, PlatinumGames, The Wonderful 101

If you haven’t seen Nintendo Direct from January 23, 2013, you should totally check it out. Not only did it feature new trailers for The Wonderful 101 and a making-of for Bayonetta 2, it also introduced a new style of Iwata Asks focused on PlatinumGames!

You can check out the full Nintendo Direct here (including link to the Iwata Asks), or you can check out high quality versions of the trailers below.

(Download link for 60fps version.)

13 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Parrying the Blade Mode

January 30th, 2013 by

METAL GEAR RISING

Filed: Games, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, PGTV, PlatinumGames

Hey, I’m Takahisa Taura, a game designer for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Recently on my way to work, I find myself looking at streetlights and walls thinking “This’d probably be easy to cut…” and “Bet I could ninja run over that.”

But on to the show… As of now, we’re just about a few short weeks away from the game’s release. Those who played the demo probably already know this, but Rising contains an action command called “parrying” that is critical for getting through battle with flair. Being in charge of the action elements of the game, I’d like to take a minute to talk about exactly what parrying is.

First then, let’s define it. Parrying is executing an attack at the same time as your opponent in order to block their incoming attack.

So how do you parry?
1) Face the direction of the incoming attack. (hold the directional stick in the enemy’s direction)
2) Execute a light attack. (PS3: □/360: X)

Do that and you’ll have pulled off a parry that completely protects you from the enemy’s attack. It’s a beautiful thing. What’s more, if you parry at the exact moment you expect the enemy’s attack to connect, Raiden will counterattack right after you parry. Also very cool.

If you’re able to hit the enemy with this counter, another chance will open up for you: a golden opportunity to cut the enemy to ribbons with “Blade Mode.”

The player just keeps cutting like they can’t get enough of it. (They must’ve been releasing a lot of pent-up stress.) Just don’t start feeling smug because you accomplished one parry.

If you’re going against someone skilled with a sword, they might parry and counter your parry counter right back at you.

Well, not so much they might, as they will, and it’ll look something like this.

I know they’re the enemy, but bravo to them. Nice maneuver.

Now, how are we supposed to solve this problem? It’s easier than you think.
If they parry counter your parry counter, just parry counter the parry counter of your parry counter!

And what if they parry counter that? Then parry counter their parry counter of you parry counter of their parry counter of your parry counter!!

This is how it should look.

All right. Enough of that or we will end up getting caught in an infinite parry counter loop; however, if we fight the good fight and emerge victorious from our parry counter infi-loop, Rising gives us the chance to dismember our opponent with Blade Mode. Jumping into Blade Mode here feels so much better than just waltzing up to the enemy and executing it normally.

The rush almost makes me want to charge at the screen yelling, “WHAT NOW, PUNK!”

Parry → Blade Mode can suffice as your main fighting strategy throughout the game, so there’s no harm in learning it here.

Some of you reading this, though, may be thinking, “I’m bad at action games. How am I supposed to time my attacks with the enemy’s attacks?!” or “I tried that parry stuff in the demo and it was impossible.”
But don’t give up yet.

The full version of Rising comes with an “easy assist” option that can be activated when selecting easy mode. With easy assist, all you have to do is keep on attacking, and the game will automatically parry for you. A real lifesaver if you are so inclined, as you won’t need to worry about timing anymore, and can enjoy a comfortable play-through of the game. I recommend trying it out.

Of course, you can’t just advance through the whole game effortlessly cutting down enemy after enemy; eventually, you’re going to run into a challenge. For example, this voluptuous femme fatale… (whose tripod use is provocative… to say the least)

Attacking while I’m all tied up like this? Not fair at all…

And what about this huge, mysterious military weapon…

So big and so fast… That isn’t fair either!

Then there is this guy? We can’t even cut him apart without him putting himself back together again! What are we going to do!?

Have I said not fair yet?
Not fair.

Well, besides what I’ve just mentioned here, there are plenty of other powerful enemies you’ll encounter in the game. You’ll just have to find out who they are after playing the game yourself.

Hope you’re ready.

(Note: Video in this post is 60FPS.)

10 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bayonetta Developer Commentary Part 55

January 15th, 2013 by

Bayonetta

Filed: Bayonetta, Community, Games, PGTV, PlatinumGames

The Bayonetta developer commentaries continue hit a double-nickel as Hideki Kamiya respects his Gradius elders in part 55.

Be sure to watch the “Developer Commentary” tag for previous episodes. You can also get the videos delivered via iTunes or RSS.

Follow us for all the latest updates!

You can also send feedback about the videos to the production crew:

Special thanks to PlatinumGames international coordinator Andrew Brasher for the translation! Feel free to leave him love in the comments.

4 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Ruminations on Character Design

January 11th, 2013 by

METAL GEAR RISING

Filed: Community, Games, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, PlatinumGames

Hello. My name’s Cho, I did character design in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

I was in charge of enemy cyborg soldiers, sub-characters, boss characters, etc.

001

Some enemy designs.

Up until now, the world and characters of Metal Gear have been designed by Yoji Shinkawa of Konami’s Kojima Productions. I’m sure this is something most of you already know; Shinkawa-san has a lot of fans from around the world, myself included. As a designer, the biggest challenge I faced during this project was to create characters that would belong to both the established Metal Gear Solid universe and a fast-paced action game like Rising.

As a seasoned fan, I felt I already had a decent understanding of Metal Gear, but now that I had to look at things from the eyes of a creator, I went back and played through the series one more time. My time for clearing The Boss Extreme in MGS4 was 3 hours and 2 minutes, in case you want to know.

You won’t see these characters in the actual game; they were just rough ideas that helped us decide designs.

You won’t see these characters in the actual game; they were just rough ideas that helped us decide designs.

At the start of development, we were free to throw out any ideas we thought would work well with Metal Gear Rising’s world concept. This is probably the best part of the design process; ideas really seem to just flow. It is the time where anything you hit upon that you think might be good you have to push for. After this stage, you start working on basic design layout.

For this entry, I’d like to talk about an enemy cyborg named Mistral.

Initial designs for Mistral.

Initial Mistral designs

Mistral’s initial concept came from Kenji Saito, Rising’s director: “I want tendril-like-objects to come out of this girl, and
I want her to fight with them like a whip!” In previous MG titles, most female characters follow the formula of a mysterious, alluring femme fatale with a tragic past. I wanted to design Mistral in the same mold.

004

More Mistral designs.

Mistral done in a Mannequin theme.

Mistral done in a Mannequin theme.

I thought about having a cyborg-enhanced body, like Raiden, and a slightly sick-looking face would work best for her design. More than that, however, I wanted something somewhat perverse/weird, so I started rethinking her base design and tried something new.

006

More Mistral tests.

Then we put about a dozen dwarf gekko arms on her that she could detach and recombine to create her main weapon. After this was approved, we finally had Mistral’s prototype. Next, we did some fine tuning by iterating on colors and cyborg parts. Personally, I wanted Mistral to be wearing a helmet, but Saito-san said he didn’t want to hide her face, so we lost it. The final design we decided on was a more “human,” sexy Mistral.

007

Mistral full view.

Once we decided an overall look, we started on details. Rising is full of cyborgs and other mech-based characters that need to be carefully detailed, otherwise things fall apart in 3D-modeling.

008

Mistral details.

This is the final, fully approved body shot of Mistral.

This is the final, fully approved body shot of Mistral.

So there is a glimpse into our design process for a character. While Mistral is an enemy character in Rising, she is one who bears a tragic past that players should be able to feel for. I hope you’ll like her when you play the game.

It won’t be much longer until the release!
Be sure to get your hands on it.

19 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Anarchy Reigns In Stores Now

January 10th, 2013 by

Platinum Games

Filed: Anarchy Reigns, Community, Games, PGTV, PlatinumGames

Hi everyone, JP from Platinum checking in with some good news!

Sorry to keep you waiting… (Wait, we should save that line for our next game that goes on sale in… Oh… a month!)

ANARCHY REIGNS IS IN STORES EVERYWHERE!

We are ecstatic to see everyone worldwide jump in on the Anarchy! To commemorate the launch, we’re sharing some high res art we created. Thanks to @pizza_ichigo on twitter for requesting this, as it makes something perfect to share with all of you! (Click for the full file, but beware, it is huge!)

AnarchyReignsReleaseDateArt

If you are reading this blog, you are probably in a first-class seat on the hype train, but if you haven’t bought your ticket you can find out more about the game at http://www.platinumgames.co.jp/anarchyreigns.

You can also check out the launch trailer SEGA created for the launch of the game.

Thanks for all your support, and we can’t wait to see you online! Let the Anarchy begin! If you haven’t already, make sure to let Producer Atsushi Inaba and Director Masaki Yamanaka  know what you think of the game!

–JP

P.S. Follow me on twitter to find out when staff from Platinum are playing online with you. I also will be giving out some codes for the Bayonetta DLC if you didn’t get in on the fun by pre-ordering. (Codes are US only for now.)

2 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy New Year 2013

January 9th, 2013 by

Platinum Games

Filed: Community, PlatinumGames

Hi everyone. Tatsuya Minami here. Happy New Year’s from PlatinumGames. First of all, thank you for all the amazing support over the past year. We hope you will continue to provide us the same amazing backing in 2013.

It’s been a year already!?
That’s how I felt on New Year’s this year. It is hard to believe how fast the past year went by.

Even though a year is a set period of time, it can feel longer or shorter depending on your own situation. Or age. A year felt like forever when I was a child, but once I became an adult, especially after I turned 30, time seems to be speeding up for me. Time really has flown since we started PlatinumGames… But maybe that is just how I feel.

Time is a funny thing. This past December we had elections in Japan. It was a landslide for the previous ruling party, the LDP, against the party that was in power, the DPJ. Three years ago, the DPJ had their own landslide victory, only to see their fortunes change in 2012. Three years may sound like forever, but I’m sure it was an instant for some. However, no matter how it feels, three years is three years. In three years, fortunes changed rapidly for those in power based upon what they had done until that point. And that is what is important — What have you done?

243335_474659979244417_480338333_o

It’s been a year already.
But there is no time to be sentimental about it. We’ve spent the last year working hard on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and now its release is right around the corner. Our collaboration with Konami is finally coming to fruition, and gamers everywhere will be able to play the results. We are proud of what we’ve accomplished, and I hope you take the time to check out the end product of our efforts.

We also continue to work hard on our titles alongside Nintendo – The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2. We can’t wait to share some new details about them with you soon.

illust0

The 2013 work year began today for us at PlatinumGames. I wonder how we will end up feeling about these upcoming 365 days. We will continue to focus everyday on our mission to make great games and give gamers everywhere things they will enjoy. With that in mind, we can’t wait to take advantage of 365 more days.

Tatsuya Minami
President/CEO, PlatinumGames Inc
January 7, 2013

4 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Bayonetta Developer Commentary Part 54

January 5th, 2013 by

Bayonetta

Filed: Bayonetta, Community, Games, PGTV, PlatinumGames

The Bayonetta developer commentaries welcome 2013 with the revelation that somethings don’t show up when you want them to, even if you are the man in charge, as Hideki Kamiya learns that Courage isn’t always apparent.

Be sure to watch the “Developer Commentary” tag for previous episodes. You can also get the videos delivered via iTunes or RSS.

Follow us for all the latest updates!

You can also send feedback about the videos to the production crew:

Special thanks to PlatinumGames international coordinator Andrew Brasher for the translation! Feel free to leave him love in the comments.

3 Comments / / Read More

Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

« Older Entries