TheHamsterplan

You could preorder games back then. At least at Toys R Us you could. They had special "$5.00" tickets that you took to the register.

You guys remember that, where you took the ticket to the register, and then you went to the special games depository where you slipped them the ticket and they slipped the game back out to you? I loved that.

@RobHoliday

It was always November 18, or at least it has been for the last few months. Same day as Assassin's Creed

I finally started up Alan Wake last Monday (I actually bought it at launch too - silly me...), and I just beat it last night. Very cool game.

I modded my Wii and ordered Xenoblade (according to your article) and was hoping to use that to pass the time, but it still hasn't arrived. My three weeks was yesterday. So I'll probably stick to Aliens: Infestation and the newly purchased Scribblenauts Remix this weakend.

@TheHamsterplan
Boomaga basically made my point with far fewer words, while I was typing it. I haven't heard any of FFXIII's music, but I'm sure he's right.

@bm111
Alright, everyone is leaping to crap all over you, and while I don't agree with you completely, I understand what you are saying. I agree that there has not been a game score with as many strong melodies as say Final Fantasy VI, or Super Mario World/A Link to the Past/other old Nintendo properties (clearly I have a SNES bias) since those days of MIDI tunes. In general, MIDI scores are definitely stronger melodically than fully orchestrated scores, I don't think anyone can argue with that. And I believe it is partially due to that capability of using a full orchestra - composers don't try as hard to strong, memorable melodies into their scores if they can use real instruments and orchestrations to evoke moods and emotions, whereas composers who were only able to use MIDI sounds for their scores were forced to write strong memorable music because their sonic palettes were much more limited. In blunt terms, I agree that game composers who have real instruments at their disposal are lazier with the actual content of their music, and those scores are often less memorable because of it.

HOWEVER, I think it's wrong to take the attitude of "since it's orchestrated, it'll definitely not be as memorable as it would be if it were MIDI", because it we should not assume that the composer with a full orchestra at her disposal will necessarily be lazy and not write strong, memorable melodies. Case in point, I agree with many of the commenters who say the Mario Galaxy games had very strong music and memorable melodies, and the orchestration only enhanced it.

ALSO, there are some who might argue that a game score's "quality" is not necessarily defined by how memorable it is, which is how I believe you are essentially defining it, bm111. They would argue that a score doesn't have to have any memorable theme at all if is accurately evoking and complementing the mood of the game, and perhaps it is innovative or fresh. I personally am more on your side in this argument, in that I want my games to have strong, memorable melodies, and I won't think the score is as "good" without them. However, those who disagree do have a legitimate point to make.

Mass Effect 2, or Deus Ex: HR, or Gears of War, or Shadow of the Colossus may all have great scores, but none of them has a memorable theme as good anything in FF6 or LoZ:LttP, or many other games in the MIDI music era (I just remembered about the Mega Man games!), and therefore in my opinion the music isn't as "good" - of course, that's a terribly subjective term. But I don't think it's fair to assume this Zelda score will be weaker because it's orchestrated. See Super Mario Galaxy, and a handful of others.
I quite liked Oblivion. That was orchestrated, right?

@TheHamsterplan
and yes, I get the Portal reference, in case you readers were hoping to jump on my perceived ignorance

I love the writing on this site, but I'm confused about the "you monsters" comment. Is that referring to Mac users, anyone who would download Portal for free, or anyone reading the article? The former would be the funniest I suppose, but also the most offensive to me, due to my household's strong ties to Apple.
Still funny though.