LIVE: MAGWest 2 Panel – PA102

Another year, another MAGWest, the West Coast Music and Gaming Festival (MAGFest) in Santa Clara, California (August 10-12, 2018). MAGWest brings it – with the bands, games and an awesome community of VGM fans!

This time we’re joined by a whole slew of performers from this year and last year as they talk about their childhood gaming experiences and some of the ways that gaming and VGM shaped their lives as performers.

The audio quality isn’t perfect (far from it – especially in the beginning. Sorry Michaela!) but everyone in the panel had a lot of fun!

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Staff Roll: Manabu Saito – PA101

pixelated audio manabu saito staff roll episode 101

We begin a new chapter of Pixelated Audio with our first solo show, and our first full-length tribute episode, this time honoring Manabu Saito. Saito was a prolific composer for System Sacom from 1987 to 1991, composing and arranging the music for over 15 games.

You may have heard his music in Yuurei-kun on Episode 91, but this time we take a deeper dive over his entire career. Listen to Saito’s growth as a composer over four years and 25 songs in a wide range of styles.

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Crash Bandicoot with Josh Mancell – PA100

josh mancell crash bandicoot pixelated audio episode 100

The original Crash Bandicoot games were developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Crash answers the question of “What would Donkey Kong Country be like in 3D?”

The first Crash title debuted in September of 1996 on the Sony PlayStation and became an almost instant success, spawning numerous sequels and additions over the years. Although it was never official, Crash was the PlayStation’s first mascot, and helped build Sony’s console brand to become a household name the world over.

Join us as we chat about the original trilogy; Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped with none other than series composer Josh Mancell in our milestone 100th episode!

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Q&A with Naoki Tsuchiya (Adventures of Little Ralph)

Naoki Tsuchiya (Former composer at New Corporation)
Works: The Adventures of Little Ralph, Victorious Boxers: Ippo’s Road to Glory, Houkagono Lovebeat, etc.

This is a brief Q&A interview with Naoki Tsuchiya about his career
and the composition done for The Adventures of Little Ralph
Interviewed/translated by Pixelated Audio on 2018.06.06 for Episode 99


PA: How did you get your start with game audio?

When I was a student I was in love with game music and I poured my heart into creating it as a hobby. I worked really hard in school and kept tuning my skills and eventually after vocational school I joined up with a company as a sound creator. Continue reading

The Adventures of Little Ralph – PA99

pixelated audio episode 99 the adventures of little ralph chippoke rarufu no daibouken psx playstation vgm game audio

The Adventures of Little Ralph, developed by NEW Corporation is a 2D platformer released only in Japan for the Sony Playstation on June of 1999. Like Ralph, there’s a big game in this unassuming package. With its tight controls, engaging scoring mechanics, and a polished 1v1 fighting mini-game engine, this is one you’re bound to keep coming back to. Composed by Hiroshi Kuronuma, Naoki Tsuchiya and Hideki Satou, The Adventures of Little Ralph features two complete versions of the soundtrack accessible right from the menu: the standard instrumental version and a “PSG” arrange version, both using the Playstation sound source.

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Neural Gear with Keishi Yonao – PA98

Neural Gear with Keishi Yonao - episode 98 sharp x68000 video game music podcast

Neural Gear, developed by Fill in Cafe and published by Cross Media Soft, is a 3rd person rail shooter (riding in the light of Space Harrier) released strictly for the Sharp X68000 on November of 1990. While the game doesn’t win any awards in the visual department it makes up for it in audio. Composed by Keishi Yonao, Neural Gear features both a soundtrack designed for the OPM/OKI (FM/PCM) sound source and the MT-32 (MIDI) sound source.

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