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Gabbin’ with Gamercide An interview with Chris Geehan & Dan Byrne-McCullough – Hyperduck Music Studios About a year ago we did an interview with the guys from Hyperduck Music Studios. In our first follow up, we see what the guys have been up to, what’s new, and dig for some big announcements. That said, let’s get started and see what we can find out. Q – Alright guys, for the uninitiated, give us a quick introduction to who HyperDuck Studios is and how you guys got started. (Don’t worry; I’ll add the shameless plug for you.) Chris: Sure thing Shawn. Hello! We are HyperDuck Music Studios! We're a two duck/man team that composes records and produces music and sound effects for computer games and their soundtracks. We are Chris Geehan & Dan Byrne-McCullough, both from Ireland, and we're just finishing up our BMus Honours Degree in Music in England at the moment! On how we got started, well it was due to a game called Iji, which I had been asked by Dan Remar to do him a favour and make the music behind it. I never thought much of it until we actually had to do it, and that's when the gloves came out. We grabbed a copy of Cubase SX and Dan & I worked at it from our student house in 2007/2008. Iji got an amazing response, being credited as one of the best freeware games of all time, at least this was a strong opinion in the 'game maker' software community; game maker being a program that is primarily used for making waffles, but can also make games. Anyway, that settled it for us, we thought that if we could get that reaction to a game we made music for, without much knowledge of how to make it sound great, how big a reaction could we get if we learnt how to make it sound, well.. amazing. We'll keep trying to get to 'amazing' but the support from that fans of Iji since has pretty much driven us up to this point, were we're working on two Microsoft Dream Build Play titles, so it's all stations go at the moment! Q – Since we last talked back in September ‘09, what have you guys been working on? Dan: We've been finishing up the music and sound effects for A.R.E.S (formerly Trashman), produced by extend studios (http://blog.x10studio.com/) which has just recently been entered for and won First Prize at Microsoft's Dream Build Play 2010 competition. We've also been heavily at work on Dust: An Elysian Tail, which is proving to be really interesting; we're really excited to see the final release. Other work has included looking for future projects - we have just completed our degrees this week, and so are likely to be putting a lot more into our music making from now on! Q - First Dust and now A.R.E.S. I think I can speak on behalf of everyone at Gamercide when I say congratulations on your SECOND win in the Dream.Build.Play competition. How does it feel to have a game you guys worked on, win 2 years in a row? Dan: Thanks, and it feels great! We are really very lucky to be working with these immensely talented people. For our music to be a part of these creations is a real boost for us. We're really excited at the prospect of these titles being released to the public - it'll be a real milestone for us I think, especially in terms of exposure. With any luck we may end up on future dbp projects, but the main focus at the moment is getting all the material for Dust finished. Q - Any update on when we can expect releases for Dust or A.R.E.S? Not just the XBLA versions, but PC versions as well. Chris: A.r.e.s. is going into testing phases soon for the PC release, I think it might be being released on Steam, I can't confirm that though. It'll be through a digital distributor anyway. The XBLA version I am estimating a 2011 release or a late 2010 release, but more likely the preceding date. The x10 team are working their brains out to get the PC version finished and ready for testing, then will work out all the kinks, if any, and you should see it coming to your PC this summer. Dust is finally back on our plates after the University exams, so we're getting stuck into that with full force, since Dean has been so understanding and patient while we complete University, and helpful along the way is really an under-statement for this guy. He is a gem. We will be working again with Dean as of next week and any updates on Dust will be coming from the man himself, so you know as much as we do at the moment. We're quite eager to have a sneak peek at all the tweaking and work he's been doing, if you follow him on twitter (@noogytweet) you can see what he is up to in Dust now and then, needless to say he's all about getting it out as soon he can, but not at the risk of ANY quality loss. So essentially, it will be very much worth the wait. Q - Is there any possibility of maybe a PS3 or Wii release for anything you're currently working on? Chris: We're not currently on any projects that will see the PS3 just yet. We are in talks with a few game developers who are working on projects for the PSN, but would love to be involved on a Wii game project, something with the sparkly attitude of Super Mario Galaxy, but really anything. We're pretty happy to be working with developers who are passionate about their craft as much as we are, that's not just what gets the job done, but it's what gets the job done well. Most of the projects we're on at the moment are on the PC, however by the end of the year, there should be a few more XBOX360 titles to show, or at least one. I can't say more about it yet, since I am not certain yet, but yes, we'll keep you posted on that. Q - When you decide to work on a game, is there a specific process you go through to determine the feel of the music for it or do the developers give you some ideas to work with initially? Dan: It varies from project to project. The developer may have a really specific idea for what they want, for instance, Dean Dodrill is a keen collector of video game music, and so was able to send us loads of reference material. We can then analyze these pieces and produce a totally new compositional idea, while incorporating more of our personal style into it. Sometimes we have game images to work from, which is really useful as you get a feel for the style of the game, and the colouring etc. If there is a particular storyline then that may dictate the pace and style of the piece. Personally, if I have little reference material I usually brainstorm ideas about what might be appropriate, and try to figure out the instruments that convey the right sound for the piece. Also Chris and myself are constantly bouncing ideas off each other, which is one of the big features of our music – It’s a collective thing, and we're able to get more ideas made that way. Q – I’ve been following the development blog of Monolith since you announced you would be doing the music for it back in late February. Are there any developments or progress on that project that you can share with us right now? Chris: I know that Timbo Jay, the animator and artist behind Monolith, just came back from being MIA for two months there last week. He has been very busy with other stuff, but his focus is solely to getting back on the Monolith train. We sat and discussed what direction Zach and Timbo felt Monolith could benefit from going in, musically, and in general I guess. It was a productive chat over quite a period of time, which helped build up a better image of what they want the game to be, and what they want it to sound like. Zach has a great business mind, and I felt I didn't need to hold back anything on that end when talking to him. Timbo Jay is an incredible piece of work, and his artwork and animating brought me to the idea in the first place, he's also a really nice guy, they're both just brilliant. It's been on hold with us until we finish Uni but come May 18th, the ball will begin rolling again, and within this ball, two ducks shall be waddling. Oh yes. So expect Monolith stuff over the summer I would say. Expect a lot of interesting stuff over the summer! Q – I literally listen to your Demo Reel and YouTube pages all day long at my day job, any updates we can look forward to on those pages? Chris: So nice to hear that really makes us feel good about what we do even more. Well actually we just started uploading OSTs to Dropbox.com so you can get the Zero Gear OST from this link (Zero Gear OST). We plan on putting a lot more up later this year and since Katakijin should be released soon (finally!) we will definitely put that up as well. Expect progressive synth ninja iji-esqeu epic music. If you don't use DropBox.com that's ok, but if you want to sign up to it, it's free and quite cool, essentially free space to share stuff you like online. And if you use this link to join https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTQ1NjA5MDQ5 then HyperDuck Music Studios get more space, more space means more soundtracks in the future. You know it's right. Aside from the DropBox.com stuff, I would also expect the A.R.E.S OST soon. we just finished mixing and mastering it recently, and I really think it's the best sounding OST we've done to date, in that style. Zero Gear I thought sounded great, but was not a big a challenge as A.R.E.S in terms of making the guitars mix with everything else. Though Zero Gear helped a lot. After that, A.R.E.S was not as daunting, even with the 80+ odd sound effects we had to make. We actually used a friend Kevin Carville (at hotmail dot com) to help make the sound effects. He's a long time friend of mine, and Dans, but I've known him since we were 5, so that's 19 years. He's a solid composer and a good sound designer. I'd recommend him for any game project. Keep an eye out for Frantic Panda Studio Works; no doubt I will rant about him on the hyperduck.co.uk newsfeed very soon. In fact I am working with him on the Mon & Bot OST, so expect that later this year. We start working on it at the end of May, or continue working on it. We have a lot of material for it already in the pipeline. Q – Over the last while a TON of Triple-A titles have been released, what are you currently playing or looking forward to playing? Chris: Company of Heroes. Dan & I, and Kev, cannot stop playing it. Over and over. I'm getting sick of it to be honest. Dan’s internet connection is crappy over in England so we can't enjoy FPSers together like MW2 and Bad Company 2. Aside from Company of Heroes, I guess I've been dipping into Supreme Commander 2 & L4D2 now and again as well, I am really quite skint I cannot buy new games, otherwise I would. I have ME2 on the shelf and Dan bought me Bayonetta for my birthday in Jan, I just asked him to hold it off until the exams are done so I can enjoy it. We're both excited about KOTOR, but that's not until Christmas, so I don't know what I will play to hold me off until then. Hopefully Mass Effect 2 shall do the trick? Played a bit of it and thought "oh my god, I love this" so I stopped playing and decided not to touch it until after my exams. I know how to spot an 'exam failer' when I see one. This is an exam failer for me; it'll suck my attention span dry. So damn good. Dan: I've spent some time checking out other indie games; recently we each bought the Humble Indie Bundle, which was a really cool idea full of great games to pass the time! Other indie games like Altitude and Bob Came in Pieces are lots of fun for casual gaming. Like Chris mentioned, we didn't want to sacrifice our results to gaming addictions just yet, but there are plenty of good looking games on the horizon. I'd like to play Final Fantasy XIII and Red Dead Redemption sometime soon, they look great. Q – If you could work with any of the current game designers in the industry, who would it be? Dan: Anyone who is making good games will do for me, there are loads of really talented groups producing video games right now, the folks at Media Molecule seem to have made something really cool in Little Big Planet - something I would love to spend some time playing. Every game has different challenges somewhere down the line so whatever keeps us on our toes and creating music is good to me. Chris: Seconded. I'd also like the opportunity to work with a company that would look for music with the orchestrated calibre and unique quirkiness that came with the Super Mario Galaxy OSTs. Really brilliant tracks all the way through those games. I can't pick a bad one out of them, honestly. Amazing. And of course awesome games. Q – Any progress on the “mango feeding” or “ninja monkey astronaut” dreams? (Please see the first interview for more info on these dreams J) Still have a little over 9 years to go, so no real rush I suppose. Chris: Those dreams have mutated into other things now, as long as we're involved in music I can't see the mangos, cigars, and astronaut suits roll in at some stage. Probably shortly after our funerals. Timing pfft. Q – Last one, give us a bad duck joke . . . Chris: There's no such thing, as a bad duck joke. You know this. Dan: *Quacks* I want to say a HUGE thank you to Chris and Dan for taking time out of their unbelievably busy schedules to do this follow-up with us. If you want to know more about them head over to their website at: http://www.hyperduck.co.uk/ and be sure to check out their Youtube page at: http://www.youtube.com/user/HyperDuckMusic You can also check them out on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/hyperduck The guys have also given us an awesome sneak preview of the soundtrack for A.R.E.S. Take a listen below and let them know how awesome it is in the comments and in the forum. [audio:http://www.gamercide.org/audio/ares-teaserreel.mp3|titles=A.R.E.S. Teaser Reel]

With so much going on at E3 this week, I’m going to try and cover as much as I possibly can, which is no small feat. I will miss some things, I’ll guarantee you that. Head over to the forums and post about anything I missed, or to discuss what I’ve listed. I won’t cover everything in depth, but I will hit the major announcements. Let’s get started: Microsoft finally announced the real name for Project Natal, Kinect. They showed Kinect Sports, a few fitness games, a Sonic game, a Forza game and an exclusive Star Wars game. They also detailed Kinect video conferencing, voice controls for movies/music, and the motion controls for video/music as well. The add-on hits stores on November 4th with a rumored $150 price tag. Microsoft and ESPN announced their exclusive partnership that will have about 3500 previous games from the MLB, NBA, NCAA, and more. The ESPN content will also be Kinect enabled. It is free for Xbox Live Gold Members. Bungie showed the first glimpse of the Halo Reach single-player campaign. It included a good bit of Spartan ass-kickery and even showed us space based dog fights. Epic showed us some pretty awesome footage from Gears 3. The footage was 4 player story mode Co-Op. Hideo Kojima and Co. showed us Metal Gear Solid: Rising. It showed Raiden slicing and dicing his way through numerous people, cars, and even a watermelon. Fable 3 was shown, as was a new Crytek game called Codename: Kingdoms. Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360 Slim. It retails for $299 and goes on sale later this week. Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer was shown. The new Madden will feature 3-on-3 online play. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit was announced Assassain’s Creed Brotherhood was shown and given a release date of November 16th The trailer for Dead Space 2 was shown and given a release date of January 25th. Medal of Honor multiplayer beta starts on June 21st. Battlefield Bad Company 2 is getting a Vietnam add-on. A demo for Crackdown 2 will go live on June 21st. The 3rd Summer of Arcade was announced, with the flagship games coming to XBLA being Konami’s Castlevania: Harmony of Despair and Square’s Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. I’m sure I’ve missed a TON of stuff. As I said, hit up the forums and tell me what I’ve missed.

Capcom released a few great HD screencaps from the highly anticipated 3rd installment of the Marvel Vs Capcom series. Take a look: [imagebrowser id=1]

This is somewhat a viral set of games released for Star Wars Force Unleashed 2. There are 3 mini games (With more to come) to play and 1 audio clip. I'll leave the speculation up to you guys to determine what the videos and audio mean. Take a look at the countdown clock and underneath that you can click to find the "games". http://www.lucasarts.com/games/theforceunleashed2/cloningtank/

Sony and HBO are announcing a partnership to put HBO TV Shows on the PSN Video Store. This will join the Starz and Showtime programming that is already on the store currently. As you may know, HBO has their own download service and to curb any issues the PSN store may cause to that business model, shows will only become available when the DVDs are released. DVD releases are typically a year after the original airing of the shows. Shows will run about $2.99 per episode and will kick off with HBO staples like Curb Your Enthusiasm, True Blood, and Entourage. "HBO is a high-profile content provider, and a real premium service, so we think this really reinforces that the PlayStation is more than just a video game console now," said SCEA President and CEO, Jack Tretton who welcomed the new deal, continuing, "Networks like HBO can be beholden to the cable and satellite companies, or they can play wherever the consumers play" With MLB TV and Netflix also on PSN, there is really no shortage of television on PSN for the current userbase.

After finishing the Green Day: Rock Band demo the above picture shows the standard Rock Band bass, drum, guitar, and mic icons, but as you can see there is also what appears to be a piano icon. What does this mean for the franchise? What will the set list look like for the next game? Only time will tell, but I think Stevie Wonder (Better than has been previously done with this one hopefully), Ray Charles, Elton John, and other great pianist could easily make their way in to the music gaming fray with this new instrument.

The first webcomic for Crackdown 2 has been released and it gives a little backstory in to the world of Crackdown 2. Take a look at the video embedded below:

Gamestop has announced their new "PowerUp Rewards" program, which rewards its members for spending money in their stores. Standard membership is free and entitles you to earn points against every dollar you spend, and oddly rewards more for purchasing pre-owned games, accessories and consoles. You get ten points per dollar spent on new items whereas buying pre-owned or trading-in will net you twenty points. The PowerUp card also gives you access to giveaways, exclusive news, offers and events as well as rewards as you amass points. With enough points on your card you can choose from a changing list of rewards that includes things like GameStop gift cards and merchandise, iTune Gift Cards, NetFlix and Xbox Live subscriptions, codes to unlock exclusive in-game content and more. Pro membership costs $14.99 a year and gives you all of the above plus a 250 point bonus, a buy 2, get 1 free introductory offer on pre-owned games, 10% discounts on purchases, 10% credit on trade-ins and a year's subscription to Game Informer magazine. It seems like a pretty worthwhile program and you get 500 points for signing up. The program is currently tagged with a "Beta", so who knows if this will actually stay as a program they keep.

There are 3 Deals of the Week this week on Xbox Live and 2 games coming to XBLA. Lazy Raiders, Band of Bugs and Madballs in Babo: Invasion are all reduced from 800 Microsoft Points to 400 this week, while Avatar Wave Snowball Fight is also available for 80 points. Voodoo Dice will be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points. However the biggest news this week is the arrival of Doom II on XBLA. I'm sure this one will come in at 800 MS Points as well, but a price has yet to be confirmed. This is really great news for fans of the Doom series and I assume we can look forward to Doom 3 hitting Games on Demand pretty soon as well.

The much anticipated release date for Halo: Reach has been announced as September 14th (9/15 in Japan). The pre-order, Limited Edition, and Legendary Edition bonuses have also been announced. Check after the break for screens of the new skins. The Legendary Edition will come with the "Flaming Spartan" skins seen below: While the Limited Edition will get the "Elite Officer" armour for the Covanent: And pre-orders will get the "Spartan Recon Helmet" which has some weird looking antenna or satellite on top of his head: Not bad in this day and age of pre-order and bonus crap for most games.

In a move that really should surprise no one, Legendary Pictures has acquired the rights to bring a Mass Effect movie to the big screen. With the success of the game(s), this is no real shocker for anyone. With the likes of Halo, Bioshock, and rumors in the industry of a God of War film, a game with such a deep story could easily be brought to your local cinema. Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) has been hired to pen the script. His work hasn't really impressed me thus far, but with him being a more character driven writer, it could be a good thing for this project. Also, if the studio could snag Matthew Fox (Who Commander Shephard's look was modeled after) fresh off his Lost career, the film may have even more of a fan base built in. Let's just hope this project can actually get off the ground, unlike some of the other major game franchise to movie adaptations.

A recent video that showed up on Youtube shows what could be a leaked trailer for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. I can't confirm or deny the credibility of said trailer, but if it isn't real, it should be. Take a look: **UPDATE** Looks like it's real. Here is the official press release: CAPCOM®, MARVEL® LIFT VEIL ON LONG-AWAITED FIGHTING GAME MARVEL® VS. CAPCOM®3: FATE OF TWO WORLDS After a Decade, the Most Iconic Characters in Entertainment Return To Face Off In One of the Most Popular Game Franchises of All Time SAN MATEO, CA — April 20, 2010 — Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, and the legendary Marvel Entertainment, LLC today announced the latest installment in their epic fighting game series with Marvel® vs. Capcom ®3: Fate of Two Worlds. It’s been a decade since MarvelTM vs. Capcom® 2: New Age of Heroes was first released and now the most popular Marvel and Capcom characters join forces again in a re-envisioned team fighting game for a new generation. Fill the shoes of legendary characters from the most beloved franchises in entertainment as you battle in the first VS. Fighting game powered by Capcom’s MT Framework. “We are so pleased to be working with Marvel again. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has been one of the most requested titles for us to produce by our fans,” said Christian Svensson, Corporate Officer and Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Capcom. “Our Capcom development studio is creating the most epic fighting game ever developed and Marvel’s input into that process has been invaluable.” Get set for the ultimate faceoff when Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds hits PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft in Spring 2011.

We are giving away a sweet Halo Legends poster from ComiCon, take a look: All you have to do is head over to our forums, sign up, and make a post in this thread: http://www.gamercide.org/forum/index.php?/topic/292-halo-legends-poster/#entry4369 Pretty simple right? A winner will be randomly chosen once the contest closes on May 1st. So what are you waiting for? Head over and sign up!

First Episode of the Epic Five Game Comedy Saga Now Available SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – April 15, 2010 – The curtain rises today in Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse with the premiere of the first episode, entitled The Penal Zone, on PC, Mac, and PlayStation® Network, exclusively for the PlayStation® 3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system. Telltale’s landmark series returns for the biggest, best looking, most bizarre installment yet as the dog and rabbit detective duo battle an onslaught of fearsome villains bent on acquiring the source of Max’s newfound psychic powers. With new episodes releasing monthly, season passes are available now for the full five game series for $34.95. The PC and Mac version can be downloaded at http://www.samandmaxgames.com/thedevilsplayhouse. “With The Penal Zone launching on four separate game platforms, the new season of Sam & Max is the biggest episodic premiere in Telltale’s history,” said Telltale CEO Dan Connors. “This series has been about pushing boundaries, from humor and story to episodic gaming as a whole. The Devil’s Playhouse continues that tradition, and it’s easily the deepest, most visually stunning season to date. We can’t wait for players both new and returning to dive in.” Also available on the iPad, The Penal Zone was a launch title for Apple’s new tablet device and is available now for the introductory price of $6.99 on the App Store. As Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse begins, Max’s latent psychic abilities emerge after discovering ancient and arcane artifacts coveted by the universe’s most despicable villains. In The Penal Zone, Sam & Max investigate the root of Max’s new powers in the shadow of an invading gorilla warlord that is stomping around the city – searching for the artifacts, taking prisoners and spreading chaos. Sam & Max is Telltale’s longest running series to date and a prime example of the company’s unique expertise in storytelling and cinematic production. The franchise’s latest installment has some of the best animated character performances in a game, presenting an experience on par with today’s feature theatrical releases. For more information please visit http://www.samandmaxgames.com/thedevilsplayhouse