TSM Episode 103: Xbone Assault

By Lusipurr
2013.06.10

Download: Produced 2013.06.09

The Legendary Zoltan demonstrates that he is MIDI-capable with Chrono Trigger, SiliconNooB brings a wealth of facts and information to bear upon the Xbone, and, in a stunning reversal, Lusipurr plays all of the games that he has not played until now!

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This month, Lusipurr.com is pleased to present the fourth commission from our Music Director: Jahan ‘The Legendary Zoltan’ Honma!

Source Music: Chrono Trigger: Wind Song
Original Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda
Remix: Wind Song Orchestral

This is what I call an “improvement remix.” It is basically Wind Song from Chrono Trigger in its exact same arrangement but with higher quality samples. Wind Song is the music on the 600 A.D. overworld map. There are a lot of popular tunes on the Chrono Trigger soundtrack but I believe this one to be one of the greatest hits. Despite what my previous remixes might lead you to believe, I actually prefer remixes that sound and feel quite similar to their sources. Taking an original piece of RPG music and leaving all of the instrumentation, melodies, harmonies, and tempos the same to make something that “sounds just like Chrono Trigger but better” is really something I would like to do more often. Those who would like to hear more of these so-called improvement remixes should search on YouTube. I have heard some really nice Final Fantasy arrangements where the original is left completely intact and just improved in sound quality. They are quite enjoyable to listen to!

40 Comments

Wolfe
Posted 2013.06.10 at 01:55 | Permalink

I have to hand it to you, Zoltan. You’re the all around nice guy I wish I could be. You’re patient, don’t retort with vulgarity, and are generally transparent about your reasons for enjoying things. I share you love of metal as well, and find you a fun counterbalance to the cynical nature of the other hosts (whose attitudes and outlooks generally are an accurate reflection of my own for the most part). So yeah. I enjoyed the show as always, and just felt like you deserve a shout out for being a nice guy, with good taste in music.

And as always, I enjoyed the insightful discussion of the nature of the industry as corporations like MS attempt to push us towards this so-called ‘brave new world’. Nintendo Wii U truly does look less perplexing in this current landscape.
Lusipurr
Posted 2013.06.10 at 02:18 | Permalink

@Wolfe: Praising Zoltan will only make him soft! He must be beaten, beaten until he is strong! Beaten with a pipe and then stuffed into a steam engine where he can become more powerful through science and biology!
Jahan 'The Legendary Zoltan' Honma
Posted 2013.06.10 at 04:23 | Permalink

Thanks, Wolfe. I’m happy that you appreciate what I do. Lusipurr and Julian are already quite aggressive but they just go off the charts when they gang up. It’s not as fun to be in it as it is to listen to it, I assure you.
Julian 'SiliconNooB' Taylor
Posted 2013.06.10 at 04:42 | Permalink

I will just leave this here for the benefit of Jahan:

http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Crying-when-You-Are-Very-Upset
Mel
Posted 2013.06.10 at 12:38 | Permalink

The Wii U is looking less bad by comparison, but it’s still a barren wasteland. For now.

Julian also reenforced a good point in the show, that publishers and developers are making consumers pay because they continually bite off more than they can chew. So they complain and start punishing consumers because of their poor business practices. And the problem with this is two fold. Firstly, it harms the consumer, the very source of capital for the industry. Secondly, even if consumers weren’t harmed by this, the method the industry is using is DRM. DRM… doesn’t… WORK!
Dean Stone Knight
Posted 2013.06.10 at 16:57 | Permalink

Question for next week’s podcast:

What are each of the panelists favorite backlog episodes of either MAP or TSM, as I am currently working through the backlog (Currently on MAP 92).
Lusipurr
Posted 2013.06.10 at 17:07 | Permalink

@DSK: That is a good question, and one that will require me to look through all of the previous episodes in order to devise an answer.

We’ll get back to you next week!
Mel
Posted 2013.06.10 at 18:40 | Permalink

Oh oh oh, me next!

AM or PM?
Mel
Posted 2013.06.10 at 21:18 | Permalink

Used games and no authentication on the PS4… They had the balls after all.
Wolfe
Posted 2013.06.10 at 21:49 | Permalink

Delicious, delicious Microsoft tears.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.10 at 21:53 | Permalink

AND it will be 100 dollars cheaper. I’d call this a massacre if not for one pervading detail…

PS+ seems to be required for online play. 50 bucks a year. Two steps forward, one step back.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.10 at 21:54 | Permalink

*60 a year
Jahan 'The Legendary Zoltan' Honma
Posted 2013.06.11 at 01:48 | Permalink

YESYESYESYESYEEEEEEESSSSSSS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kWSIFh8ICaA

Xbox is out of the entire freaking RACE already!
Julian 'SiliconNooB' Taylor
Posted 2013.06.11 at 02:29 | Permalink

This has been such a beautifully perfect day.

For the first time in a long while I espy a faint glimmer of hope for the industry!
Lusipurr
Posted 2013.06.11 at 03:02 | Permalink

One of the greatest days in industry history. Wow.
Jahan 'The Legendary Zoltan' Honma
Posted 2013.06.11 at 06:20 | Permalink

Definitely. There have been so many blunders lately. I think that everyone assumed that Sony would continue to make horrible decisions. It feels so good to be proven wrong. I just finished watching the Xbone conference. Some of the games looked like fun but I think most of them were the non-exclusive ones like Dark Souls and Metal Gear. Does anyone know if the Panzer Dragoon game is exclusive. Most of the games they showed were FPSs. Personally, I am not interested on those.

Now I am going to get to the good stuff and watch the Sony conference!
Ethan 'Ethos' Pipher
Posted 2013.06.11 at 08:53 | Permalink

The first time I’ve regretted missing a press conference in quite some time.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.11 at 12:05 | Permalink

The PS4 will also be region free.

The Sony conference was loads of fun to watch, just for the MS slams alone. I’m still not thrilled about charging for online, though. I don’t want that to get lost in the jubilation. If Sony keeps the PS4 PS+ value on par with PS3′s PS+ then it lessens sting. They slipped that turd in juuust at the right moment, in just the right way to get everyone thinking “compromise”. Oh well.
Jahan 'The Legendary Zoltan' Honma
Posted 2013.06.11 at 15:03 | Permalink

Yeah. They didn’t give the audience any time to boo on that one. I watched the conference last night and it was epic. Not THAT many games I want to play yet. Mostly just the Square Enix stuff and Metal Gear V, although it wasn’t shown. But I don’t think the Xbone has even a single RPG announced for it. I was just waiting for them to talk about used games and the crowd appropriately went insane as they did for the price as well. I’m happy to report that most of Overclocked ReMix’s vocal community are all going to buy PS4s now. This week is just too sweet to be true! Now if there could just be some more games that get shown on the E3 stages, all my dreams will have come true. I’m basically just referring to The 2nd to the Last Guardian. It seems kind of hopeless though, since it wasn’t in the conference.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.11 at 16:17 | Permalink

FF XV will be coming to the Xbone as will the next Kingdom Hearts, and Metal Gear.

For me, this was a hardware-centric E3 and I’ve spent little time thinking about the games. I’ll look over some release lists and whatnot after the storm settles and see what I care for. I recall The Order 1886 (or whatever it’s called) being a interesting thing to look at. And whatever “Division” is, also had me quite interested. And it should go without saying that the next Smash Bros has me REALLY interested.

So, as it stands, the PS4 and Wii U are looking to be my only purchases for next gen (aside from upgrades for my PC). The Wii U still needs to get the games I want actually ON store shelves, though.
Epyon-01
Posted 2013.06.11 at 22:19 | Permalink

Hmmm? I want to hear the Final Tactics inspired track . Also, as much as Sony won E3, those Nintendo first party games look awesome.
Jahan 'The Legendary Zoltan' Honma
Posted 2013.06.12 at 01:23 | Permalink

Xbiatch is not available in Japan or any asian country for that matter.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/pre-order-xbox-one/disclaimer

Also, the remake of Killer Instinct, an announcement that initially pleased many, is free to play starting with A SINGLE CHARACTER. The rest cost as of yet undisclosed additional fees.

Amazon Xbiatch pre orders have sold out but the number has not been released. The number of PS4 preorders has not been released either but it is said to have surpassed Xbiatch and they still haven’t reached their preorder limit.

Tons of fun for everyone here at Lusipurr.com! Your source for relentless ridicule of Microsoft’s suicidal console launch.
Lusipurr
Posted 2013.06.12 at 02:58 | Permalink

If you buy an Xbone over a PS4, you are pants-on-head retarded.
Julian 'SiliconNooB' Taylor
Posted 2013.06.12 at 03:42 | Permalink

Nintendo is in trouble. I was expecting them to front up to E3 with several megaton games which would serve as special sauce for selling the console at Christmas. Instead they showed off an enjoyable selection of games heavily derived from 3DS games.

Nintendo are phoning it in.

And most of the more exciting titles aren’t even coming out until mid-2014.
Ethan 'Ethos' Pipher
Posted 2013.06.12 at 11:22 | Permalink

Agreed. While Super Mario 3D World looks good, it should just be a 3DS sequel. It’s like they looked at the effort it would take to make a good-looking HD game and said “fuck it, we’ll leave that to Zelda in 4 years”. All the platformers look fun, but it was safe even for Nintendo standards.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.12 at 12:02 | Permalink

Nintendo is a puzzling company, to be sure. I’d love to buy their games… if they existed.

And apparently Mattrick is trying to pass off the 360 as MS’s offline alternative to those who can’t be connected. Once you give a company a taste of victory, they think they can do no wrong:

Nintendo: Developers will makes games for our system, even if we stick to outdated and expensive cartridges.

Sony: People will literally get another job just for the privilege of affording our next console.

Nintendo, again: We don’t actually need software for people to lap up the sequel to the Wii.

MS: Consumers will be willing to bend over as we shove a DRM laden console directly up their asses.
SiliconNooB
Posted 2013.06.12 at 13:51 | Permalink

Do Nintendo even recognise how much trouble their console is in?

The only upside to this is the fact that I’m going to enjoy watching their investors become poor.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.12 at 15:41 | Permalink

I dunno, honestly. They must think they have enough planned to get themselves out of this slump. They’ve done it before I guess. But one thing is certain, they’re really good at not letting people know whats going on behind the curtain. But at this point I’m not sure what they can pull off.

Even with the games announced I’m not seeing much that interests me besides smash bros and zelda. Mario looks very vanilla and so does mario kart.
SiliconNooB
Posted 2013.06.13 at 00:22 | Permalink

Zelda will probably be amazing, but we all know that it is years away from its release.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.13 at 08:44 | Permalink

Did you see the video of the HD Wind Waker? Maybe it was the fault of the footage, but I couldn’t see a big difference. That game was probably the least in need of a face lift, given its timeless cell shaded style. The addition of some new gameplay mechanics has me interested, but they didn’t get specific on that.
SiliconNooB
Posted 2013.06.13 at 15:04 | Permalink

The character models actually look worse. The environments look better, but they have smeared on the bloom lighting waaaaaay too thickly.

At any rate, I was talking about the proper Wii U Zelda, not the HD port of Wind Waker.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.13 at 15:22 | Permalink

Ouch, I didn’t actually notice that bloom smearing until you mentioned it. But, yeah I’m aware about the actual Wii U Zelda title. Allegedly it was held off from E3 to avoid confusion. I think it’s more that now that Nintendo discovered what the internet and youtube are, they’ve realized that they don’t have to pay gobs of money for booth space at convention centers. They’d rather do it in Japan, on their own time and at their own pace, which is very much in keeping with their style of business.
Dean Stone Knight
Posted 2013.06.13 at 15:38 | Permalink

Hurrah!
Lusipurr
Posted 2013.06.14 at 01:47 | Permalink

@Mel: What are you talking about? The bloom effect is very lovely, and is implemented in an understated way which only serves to accentuate the visual experience in the most positive of ways.
Julian 'SiliconNooB' Taylor
Posted 2013.06.14 at 01:54 | Permalink

@Lusipurr: Now that you mention it I agree entirely. My original impression was based on ignorance and surface-level knee-jerk reaction. Now that I have seen Wind Waker HD through clear eyes and unblinkered sentiment I am forced to agree that that the game’s lighting looks refined and lovely!

WRONG AGAIN, MEL!
Wolfe
Posted 2013.06.14 at 03:51 | Permalink

I must agree with Mel. One of the first things I noticed about the Wind Waker gameplay was the abundance of bloom. I actually feel like it hampers the overall visual quality and in fact, recalls a distaste I had for Fable’s visual design.
Mel
Posted 2013.06.14 at 08:05 | Permalink

@SN: Forced to agree indeed!

@Wolfe: Shh! You’re ruining their plans!
Jahan 'The Legendary Zoltan' Honma
Posted 2013.06.14 at 14:27 | Permalink

No, Mel. Their plans have already succeeded. The goal was just to be able to say, “WRONG AGAIN, MEL!” And they did that.

. . . Wait a minute. That means I just proved you wrong about ruining their plans.

WRONG AGAIN, MEL
Lusipurr
Posted 2013.06.14 at 15:47 | Permalink

@Mel: What are you TALKING about? Is it not evident that we are being SARCASTIC? How is it possible that you can continue to be so INCREDIBLY WRONG!?
Mel
Posted 2013.06.14 at 16:09 | Permalink

I take after the best!