Game Audio Network Guild Awards Swept by BioShock
March 3, 2008
The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), a non-profit organization supporting the game audio industry, has announced the winners of its 6th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards, which honor outstanding creative, technical and artistic audio achievement in games.
BioShock won a total of 8 awards, succeeding in every category in which it was nominated. Additionally, industry veteran Brian Schmidt was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Schmidt is best known for his audio work in games such as Madden Football, Desert Strike, Star Wars Trilogy and Crue Ball. In 1998, Brian left freelance audio for Microsoft, where he set the direction for game audio technologies for Windows and Xbox for the next decade.
Finally, G.A.N.G. member Nathan Rain Schwartz was awarded a $10,000 scholarship to Expressions College, which offers a game audio curriculum at their Emeryville, CA campus.
The winners were voted upon and judged by the game audio industry and members of G.A.N.G. They were announced at the G.A.N.G. Awards ceremony held in San Francisco, CA during the Game Developers Conference and are listed below by category.
AUDIO OF THE YEAR
BioShock
MUSIC OF THE YEAR
BioShock
SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR
BioShock
BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
God of War II
BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE
BioShock
BEST HANDHELD AUDIO
Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow
BEST AUDIO – OTHER
Jewel Quest II
BEST CINEMATIC/CUT-SCENE AUDIO
BioShock
BEST DIALOGUE
BioShock
BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL
“Welcome To Rapture” – BioShock
BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – CHORAL
“Main Titles” – God of War II
BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – POP
“Still Alive” – Portal
BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC
BioShock
BEST ARRANGEMENT OF A NON-ORIGINAL SCORE
Simpsons Game
BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST
“The World of Game Composing” – Film Music Magazine
MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF AUDIO
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2
(Audio controlling graphics & physics engine)
BEST USE OF MULTI-CHANNEL SURROUND IN A GAME
Halo 3
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (TIE)
Austin Wintory (composer - flOw)
Tomas Neumann (audio programmer - Crysis)
STUDENT/APPRENTICE CONTEST WINNERS
Mike “Skitch” Schichiano (music)
Mikkel Eskessen (sound design)
G.A.N.G. RECOGNITION AWARDS
Russell Brower (audio director & composer - Blizzard Entertainment)
Rod Abernathy (composer - Dead Head Fred)
Michael “Piano Squall” Gluck (Piano Squall album and charity work)
G.A.N.G. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Sean Beeson
Jerry Lyons
Chance Thomas
Becky Young
G.A.N.G./EXPRESSIONS SCHOLARSHIP
Nathan Rain Schwartz
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Brian Schmidt
Source: Gamasutra.com
LOST : Via Domus Videogame
March 3, 2008
Since 2004, the producers of ABC’s Lost have been playing games with their devoted viewers. A video game was inevitable — and now, Ubisoft’s Lost: Via Domus , was released Feb. 26.
Some of the people who made ABC’s Lost such a popular TV show helped to create the video game Lost: Via Domus.
“They know games,” Via Domus scriptwriter Kevin Shortt said of the TV show’s brain trust. “You could tell they were excited.”
Lost staff writer Dawn Kelly collaborated on the game’s script, and “we worked with (series co-creator) Damon Lindelof on a really cool ending,” Mr. Shortt said.
So, what’s really happening on the island?
“They didn’t give us the big answers,” Mr. Shortt acknowledged, although players will be able to explore parts of the island that were only glimpsed on TV. For example, fans can finally find out what was behind that magnetic wall in the hatch in Season 2.
The main character is a guy named Elliott whom Mr. Shortt describes as “one of those other castaways you see wandering around the beach.” Like everyone else on Lost , Elliott has a tortured past, and his experience on the island could lead to redemption. During his journey, Elliott deals with most of the TV show’s characters, as well as strange creatures such as the Black Smoke.
“It’s not the kind of game where you’re just shooting at people,” Mr. Shortt said. “You’re discovering stuff, unlocking mysteries. … We’re really happy with it.” And everything is consistent with the TV show’s elaborate mythology.”
Source: The Augusta Chronicle
The Art of Risk : How to Control Your Own Performance
March 3, 2008
How many times do you “put yourself out there”, and see nothing come of it?
Good question. Obviously the answer varies, depending on so many factors, which would be difficult to quantify into a solid statistic.
It is the question as well as the answer that makes more than a few voice actors wonder.
In general, it would be safe to assume that you are in the majority if you take the risk of performing on any level, you run a risk of not booking the job more often than not;
Risk of failure. Risk of rejection, Risk of “de-selection”.
Think about the Oscars. So many actors auditioned for the films and just so many got the job. Only so many many films or actors were nominated, and just a few select won the “golden ticket”.
It’s a hard knock life, folks, but you can make a work for you. To learn more, click on the source link below.
Source: Bobbin Beam
Father and Daughter, Competing as Radio Personalities in Same Market
March 3, 2008
When Molly Carroll heard that Jim Shafer was moving to the morning show at WLYT, she called to congratulate him, then phoned her husband with the news.
“And he said, `Molly, you realize he’s going to be on the air up against you?’ ” she recalls.
Well, no, she hadn’t.
Carroll, who shares morning duties with Jon Robinson at WDYT-AM (1220), and Shafer, a veteran of WLYT-FM (”Lite” 102.9) and the old “Magic,” are an odd couple in the world of broadcasting — one of the few, if not the only, father-daughter combinations sharing the same time period in the same city at competing stations.
They are also each other’s biggest fans.
