Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura talks PS3 musical freedom
While video game music is no longer simply the series of 'beeps' and 'boops' it was in the past, it has nonetheless remained one of game design's -- groan -- unsung heroes. This isn't lost on tune-focused Music4Games, and in a recent interview with Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura, she spoke out on a number of topics, including her thoughts on creating music for the PlayStation 3.
According to Shimomura, who is responsible for the tunes we'll be humming along to in Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy Versus XIII for the PS3, composing on Sony's current platform is much less limiting than it was in previous generations. "With the PlayStation 2, sound production...was a constant battle with memory and limitations," she recalled, adding that "with the PlayStation 3, I'm expecting to have it sound the way I please, without limitations." It's encouraging to hear someone at any level talk about creating content on the PS3 that doesn't involve the words "difficult" or "costly." However, with Square Enix continuing to play coy with regards to when its decade of Final Fantasy will actually kick off, it may be some time before our ears ring with the fruits of Yoko Shimomura's musical labor.
According to Shimomura, who is responsible for the tunes we'll be humming along to in Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy Versus XIII for the PS3, composing on Sony's current platform is much less limiting than it was in previous generations. "With the PlayStation 2, sound production...was a constant battle with memory and limitations," she recalled, adding that "with the PlayStation 3, I'm expecting to have it sound the way I please, without limitations." It's encouraging to hear someone at any level talk about creating content on the PS3 that doesn't involve the words "difficult" or "costly." However, with Square Enix continuing to play coy with regards to when its decade of Final Fantasy will actually kick off, it may be some time before our ears ring with the fruits of Yoko Shimomura's musical labor.




















(Page 1) Reader Comments
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2nd of all shes not doing the original FF13 just versus
3rd and more importantly Uematsu hasnt been on his A game since he left Square himself, so Id say Rpg music as a whole has been crap except for Shimomura and Motoi Sakuraba.
Brawl, anyone?
Yoko however hasn't had a bad sounding game in ages (at least not one I can think of.)
I hate to say it, but Nobuo Uematsu doesn't make "great" soundtracks anymore. Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey both had a few very good songs, but the rest soundtracks were pretty unmemorable.
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Or course, what else is new.
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Going though text was irritatating and even more annoying when you missed bits from pressing frantically for the 1 hour of dialect to end >_
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Somehow this all seems very Sony influenced. We all know how they are with the ludicrous self-serving bullshit.
M4G: In closing, any thoughts on composing music for the PlayStation 3?
Yoko Shimomura: With the PlayStation 2, sound production was mainly based on the internal sound chip, not streaming, so it was a constant battle with memory and limitations, such as the number of sound channels. With the PlayStation 3, I'm expecting to have it sound the way I please, without limitations
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Flat Zone (2) begs to differ.
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Yoko Ono.
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