Issue 05 - Killscreen

Angular shards of blue, green and cream fractured across white, resolving loosely into a figure in flight.

Lumi

Say Hi To Lumi

Japan's virtual idol craze has come to consoles in Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Child of Eden, and it begs the old pop question: Do you care how the song is made, as long as it makes you dance?

A Big Daddy diving suit rendered in sickly green and gold, a Circus of Values vending machine set into its chest.

bioshock infinite

Worlds of Sound

From the cha-ching of a vending machine to the distant roar of tragic monsters, Irrational Games’ Pat Balthrop and Ken Levine talk about the sounds of their bestselling franchise, BioShock.

Chris Tilton

Game designers aren’t taking music seriously. One composer explains what’s gone wrong and how to fix it.

A schematic drawing of brass instruments and circles connected by wandering lines, anchored by a green faceted shape.

John Zorn

Play It Again, Samus

In jazz as in games, freedom starts with following the rules.

Nolan North

An interview with the star voice of the Uncharted and Assassin’s Creed series, and one of the most ubiquitous everymen in gaming.

A dense grey field of small repeated marks receding in perspective, like a surface of sound waves seen at an angle.

Marty O’Donnell

Cantus Firmi

The dream of dynamic music is a flowing, responsive score that matches the player’s every move. Will better technology make it a reality—or is something else getting in the way?

A collage of concentric red rings over a mountain landscape, a vintage radio, a cut-out portrait and floating wireframe cubes

8-Bit Mayhem

Bloop and Thunder

They couldn’t sound more different, but the twee chiptune scene and the heavy sounds of metal find common cause in passion, nostalgia and maybe even soul.

Young musicians packed close together in a rehearsal room, instruments and music stands raised, seen from behind.

Animatissimo

A Gaming Rehearsal in Three Movements

Can a local student orchestra lead a city to classical music?

Jim Guthrie

Small Communities, Big Ideas

In the strange and spectacular Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, indie rock and indie games come together and learn from one another.

Concentric teal rectangles spiralling inward on a printed field of stars, a white circle low in the frame.

brian eno

I Am Sitting In A Room

While the soundtracks in games are pushed farther and farther into the background, their composers can learn from the ambient innovators who turned background music into art.

A face lit from below emerging out of near-total darkness, eyes open, the rest of the frame black.

Robin Arnott

Taking the Deep Dive

World War I-era gas mask. Heavy breathing. Total darkness. One terrifyingly intense game.

Hand-drawn lettering in red, orange and black reading “I don’t know if my voice is annoying,” the letters built from keys, bo

Let's Play

Voices in the Dark

Who would record a 22-hour playthrough of a game? A late-night journey through the online video culture known simply as “Let’s Play.”