Show Notes
Jessica Curry with the latest and greatest music for video games. Today she's joined by composer Winifred Phillips who has scored some of the biggest game franchises from Assassin's Creed III: Liberation to God of War to Little Big Planet. She's also written a handy composers guide on how to write game music. Jess and Winifred chat about writing for those huge franchises, the glory of live games music concerts and what composers are getting up to in games. Plus composer and musician J.J. Ipsen calls up to introduce an exclusive new release - his music for the brand new game Planet Zoo, and Jess's Classic Track is an absolutely seminal score - music from Chrono Trigger by Yasunori Mitsuda. Get in touch - email [email protected] Full playlist: Yasunori Nishiki - Main Theme (Octopath Traveller) J.J. Ipsen - Title Theme (Planet Zoo) Laura Shigihara - Fish Heads and Morizora's Cave (Rakuen) Winifred Phillips - Main Theme; Aveline's Escape; Society Suite in 4 Movements (Assassin's Creed III: Liberation) Traditional Russian/Johann Sebastian Bach/Angèle Dubeau - Tetris theme Yasunori Mitsuda - Main Theme; To Far Away Times (Chrono Trigger) Michiru Yamane - Unfinished Business (Skull Girls) Christopher Larkin - City of Tears (Hollow Knight) Winifred Phillips - The Ziggurat Theme (Little Big Planet 3) Winifred Phillips - Main Theme (Dark Eye: Book of Heroes) Gustavo Santaolalla - The Last of Us (The Last of Us)
More from Sound of Gaming
Elle Osili-Wood guides us through the soundtracks for the best robots in video games as well as exploring how AI is being used as both a story-telling device and gameplay mechanic in gaming. Featuring music from Halo Infinite (by Gareth Coker) with themes around human-AI bonds, NieR: Automata (Square Enix Music) which asks what counts as being alive, and Detroit: Become Human (Philip Sheppard) which explores the idea of civil rights for robots. Producer: Barnaby Gordon
Just as it is in the real world, food is a fundamental to many games. It isn't just points, like Pac-Man's cherries, it looks delicious, it sizzles temptingly and it brings people together. Maybe you're Link in Zelda Breath of the Wild - knocking up seafood paella - or Venba, the south Indian mother connecting with her son through the language of cooking, or maybe you are Wilson in Don't Starve trying, well... not to starve. Whatever you play, grab a plate and join Elle Osili-Wood to sample the music of the tastiest games around.
Elle Osili-Wood's guest is composer Wilbert Roget II to talk about his music for the brand new Star Wars game - Star Wars: Outlaws. Along the way we encounter all sorts of other rule-breakers, from the games that challenge our preconceptions about what they are (Dave The Diver, an action adventure which becomes a role-playing game and then a management simulator!) to games that ask the player what rules they are prepared to break (Papers. Please) and Metal Gear Solid, which challenges you to question its own rules. Producer: Barnaby Gordon
Video games have come a long way from the pixels of Pong and Pac-Man. From games based on medieval manuscripts like Inkulinati and Pentiment, to hand-drawn wonders such as Cuphead, games have become works of art in themselves. Some even ask the player to create that art. Elle Osili-Wood dusts off her easel and to illustrate the best of them. Elle's guest on the programme has been involved with a number of such titles - "Chicory: A Colorful Tale" and "Ori and the Will o'the Wisps" - she is the go-to woodwind soloists for game and film composers alike: Kristin Naigus. Producer: Barnaby Gordon
Not only are many games inspired by some of the world's great mythologies, they also set out to create rich mythological type narratives themselves. Elle Osili-Wood reflects this as the latest iteration of the Prince of Persia franchise reaches our screens. Her guests are the game's co-composers - the ground-breaking Iranian musician, Mentrix, and celebrated video game composer Gareth Coker. To listen on most smart speakers, just say: "Ask BBC Sounds to play Sound of Gaming."