Composer News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Finally hitting Netflix this week, the road to Maestro has indeed been a long one. The biographical drama which tells the story of the great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein was originally meant to be helmed by Martin Scorsese. However, choosing instead to focus on his gangster epic The Irishman, Scorsese stepped down and the project soon landed in the hands of none other than Steven Spielberg. Given that at the time he was working on his version of West Side Story, which features music by Bernstein, it just "made sense" as Spielberg’s producing partner Kristie Macosko Krieger tells GamesRadar+.

Sea of Stars took home the award for Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2023 earlier this month and now, developer Sabotage Studio has revealed the RPG has surpassed 4 million players since launch. Sea of Stars is available on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC, launching back in August, and is free to subscribers on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, as well as PlayStation Plus' Extra and Premium subscribers. 

Continuing a big year for Christmas-themed games in 2023 is Roblox; the game platform is getting a new experience based on Jon Favreau’s holiday comedy Elf, developers announced Wednesday. While you may not be able to step into Buddy the Elf’s poulaines to reconnect with your long-lost father in Roblox’s Elf North Pole Workshop experience, you will be able to visit Santa’s Workshop and hang with some North Pole pals.

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It might not be entirely sensible to refer to Kind Words—full name Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to)— as a «game,» but we argued about that distinction enough in the 2010s that I think we can sideline it for the remainder of this decade. I only mention it as context for what Kind Words is: a cozy bedroom environment equipped with the chill beats promised by the title, and an indiscriminate virtual post office that delivers anonymous notes and letters to random strangers, message-in-a-bottle style.

Atlus has unveiled new details on Metaphor: ReFantazio, including amazing transitions from free-roam to turn-based combat, and how the RPG's social system works.

In an unexpected turn of events, the eagerly awaited Monday night launch of the U.S. military's covert X-37B robot spaceplane has been postponed for a minimum of 24 hours, according to SpaceX.

The original DOOM is 30 years old now. That means it has been a little over thirty years since Nintendo turned down Id’s offer to port their games to the PC and began a chain reaction that would result in Carmack, Romero, and co. creating the FPS genre. Thanks, Nintendo!

The recently revealed Visions of Mana is bringing back series creator Koichi Ishii as well as veteran composers Hiroki Kikuta, Tsuyoshi Sekito, and Ryo Yamazaki.

A long-awaited follow up from the artist and composer behind the ‘rhythm violence’ game Thumper, Thrasher will be releasing across Meta Quest and Steam VR in 2024.

Given that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse features hundreds of Spider-People and visits numerous different dimensions, it naturally has countless Easter eggs for fans to spot. We certainly did our best to catch them upon seeing the movie, but there were plenty we missed. And it turns out we are not alone in this, as director trio Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson reveal that they themselves are still uncovering neat references today, months after work on the film was completed.

Alas, The Game Awards has come to an end—and while there've been plenty of exciting trailers and glitzy celeb appearances, it's easy to get numb to the star factor. One returning guest, however, was far more welcome than any Hollywood name-drop: the man, the myth, the legend: Flute Guy. 

This year's blockbuster sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse followed in the footsteps of the original film by once again pushing the boundaries of both storytelling and animation. As we joined our hero Miles Morales and co. on another adventure, we visited numerous dimensions including one which was rather brilliantly made with Lego. 

The Game Awards are packed with eager looks at highly anticipated games, but the ceremony is full of plenty of surprises too. One of them is a flashy Metroidvania called Tales of Kenzera: Zau, the debut game from Surgent Studios.

A new Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth trailer debuted during The Game Awards 2023, and it's full of firsts for the upcoming sequel.

The sequel to World of Goo has been announced.

Anyone with an ounce of an interest for rhythm games will have at least heard, if not experienced, the name Thumper in years past. And while it’s been a whole seven years since developer Drool dropped the hard-hitting, on-rails, rhythms of a sole silver beetle rushing through psychadelic worlds, Thumper’s visuals as much its soundtrack, remains a memorable release. Well now, Brian Gibson — the original artist and composer behind Thumper — is back with a new project. Collaborating with Mike Mandel of Fuser fame to form development team Puddle, with what looks to be a spiritual successor releasing sometime next year, in the form of Thrasher.

Thrasher is the follow-up to rhythm horror game Thumper, coming out on Quest and PCVR.

Thumper artist and composer Brian Gibson announced Thrasher, another colorful audiovisual experience, for PC and consoles at The Game Awards 2023.

A long-awaited follow up from the artist and composer behind the ‘rhythm violence’ game Thumper, Thrasher will be releasing across Meta Quest and Steam VR in 2024.

Thrasher, a new game from the team behind Thumper, is coming next year.

A new report from IGN says the situation at Bungie following layoffs and reports of sinking Destiny 2 player numbers and revenues is even more dire than is widely known. Morale at the studio has reportedly plummeted amidst what is described by IGN's sources as management indifference, and the report says Bungie could even be subject to a full Sony takeover if the upcoming Destiny 2 expansion The Final Shape fails to meet expectations.

When you’re a fan of certain franchises, you want nothing more than for someone to come out and say that there’s another mainline entry coming soon. It can make you hyped for what comes next while also letting you wonder what that “next thing” could be. For Devil May Cry fans they’ve been waiting in the wings for something new to arrive since the 5th entry was released in 2019. Yep, it was released over four years ago. Doesn’t that make you feel old? Despite the sales success and reception to the title, Capcom has been mum about what might be happening next.

There's no doubt about it – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has one of the best endings in cinema this year. Jaws dropped on the floor when it was revealed that not only is Miles Morales in the wrong dimension having been sent to Earth-42, but the Miles here is actually the villainous The Prowler. Since Spider-Man doesn't exist in this world, the city is riddled with crime, with Earth-42's Miles being right at the center of it as the villain.

Something new may be brewing for the Devil May Cry series, as the composer of the fifth entry in the series recently hinted at something.

In the last few years, Microsoft has been on a mission to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into its suite of products such as Microsoft 365, Microsoft Edge, and Windows. As part of its efforts to create an AI-assisted future, the tech giant in recent months has unveiled a vast range of products and services that leverage the power of AI, including Bing Chat, Microsoft's very own AI chatbot. All these AI services have been brought under one brand - Microsoft Copilot. However, the advancements in AI are far from over for Microsoft, and it is planning to roll out a plethora of AI features soon, it has announced. From GPT-4 Turbo, and Code Interpreter to the new DALL-E 3 model, check out what's coming to Microsoft Copilot.

The World First Fyr'alath the Dreamrender has been completed and plate wearers across the globe have begun their journey to obtain the legendary 2-handed axe, but how good is it compared to other weapons found in Amirdrassil? Our guide writers, Mandl (Blood DK) and Bolas (Retribution Paladin), break down the new legendary weapon to give a rough idea of how it works and it's relative value for both tank and DPS. Is it worth the countless hours of accumulating bad luck protection and small fortune of gold spent on materials to craft? Fyr'alath, the Dreamrender Legendary Axe Overview

Google Messages has recently introduced an exciting feature called Photomoji. The new Google Messages Photomoji feature will allow users to turn their favorite photos into expressive reactions and stickers. If you've been using Google Messages, you will soon be able to explore this exciting upgrade. And if you're eager to try this creative addition to your messaging experience out, follow the steps given below:

 Hailed as a world first, European Union artificial intelligence rules are facing a make-or-break moment as negotiators try to hammer out the final details this week — talks complicated by the sudden rise of generative AI that produces human-like work.

NCSoft is pushing ahead with more peeks at Throne and Liberty , including two new official music track videos, each featuring themes and footage from the game, and a new tips video for playing one of the game’s classes.

First spotted by GamesRadar, Withers pulled out all the stops in Baldur's Gate 3's new post-game epilogue, calling in a favor with the Forgotten Realms' god of music, Milil, to perform for you. Fans noticed an uncanny resemblance to Larian composer Borislav Slavov, and while the artist didn't confirm it either way, it seems like a deliberate homage.

When I saw songwriter and producer Grimes perform live a decade ago, there was plenty of onstage tech equipment but clearly in the service of human music. Grimes was singing songs she'd composed, her fans were listening in a shared concert setting rather than through headphones, and maybe in the crowd a few budding musicians were inspired that night to write a tune of their own.

Baldur’s Gate 3's fifth major patch has given the landmark RPG new epilogue scenes, and one seems to have cast the game’s composer as the literal God of Song. 

Maestro is a movie about Leonard Bernstein. It’s also a movie about Bradley Cooper’s career. In its bravura peaks and moments of rest, the film becomes an ouroboros of art and artist, a current creator channeling a historical one and wrestling with the same questions he faced, struggling in the same way to not let their passions subsume them, unsure whether they’re successful. It’s mesmerizing.

In a bid to improve business efficiency, Sega has introduced ChatGPT-4 in a "closed environment" within the company.

A funny thing happened when I sent questions over to Alan Wake 2 composer Petri Alanko. After he sent over his responses, I had the uncanny experience of realizing they sounded like something Alan Wake himself would write.

When it comes to professional communications, Gmail is a go-to for many, including us. But it is not easy to master. However, if you want to turn into a Gmail ninja, then we have some tips just for you. Navigating from 'Compose email' to 'Forward email' daily is a tedious trackpad routine. Despite honing this skill, it's inefficient — especially with a flood of incoming emails. But this is where Gmail keyboard shortcuts emerge as a game-changer. These commands are straightforward and easy to use, significantly cutting down the time taken to get through the tasks. Let us take a look at the most quintessential Gmail shortcuts that you should be using.

The Final Fantasy 14 community has met up with composer Masayoshi Soken's in-game character - or, rather, who they believe to be Soken's in-game character.

Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue the support for the Microsoft 365 browser extension, a complimentary add-on accessible on browsers like Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, facilitating users' access to Microsoft 365 apps and documents online. The extension, boasting over 6 million users on Google Chrome and installed by more than 4 million users on Edge, is set to be retired on January 15, 2024, and will be subsequently removed from web stores.

Black Friday sales are kicking off everywhere, and Polygon’s own merch store is no exception. Through Cyber Monday, we’re selling everything in our catalog for 25% off, whether you want apparel, accessories, books, and other awesome products to proudly advertise your gamer credentials.

When it comes to Atlus, they’ve been reveling in the success that the 5th entry in their beloved franchise has given them. It not only elevated the entire series, but it gave them the confidence to build off the title and do a slew of spinoffs. One such spinoff was Persona 5 Tactica, which was released recently on console and PC. The game shifted the RPG combat style into a more tactics-based system. Plus, the game added a new world, storyline, and characters for the Phantom Thieves to deal with. In a special interview with Famitsu, as documented by Persona Central, the team talked about what it was like making the title and its various elements.

Google Chrome has been benefitting from a lot of new features lately. Commemorating the web browser's 15th anniversary, Google redesigned Chrome with the ‘Material You' theme, including refreshed icons, new colour palettes, and even a completely redesigned Chrome Web Store. It also added a feature that lets you see the memory consumption of each tab on the browser. Now, Google is reportedly gearing up to add one big artificial intelligence (AI) feature to Chrome that will let you organize tabs. 

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Microsoft keeps upgrading its services to cater to its vast number of users all over the world. This time Microsoft has brought something especially for its Indian users. Microsoft has announced new vernacular features in Outlook Lite, an email and SMS app that is designed specifically for Indian users. This Microsoft Outlook Lite feature combines email and SMS in one place. Learn more about the new features below:

Major investors in OpenAI, the company behind hugely popular ChatGPT, are working to orchestrate the return as CEO of Sam Altman, a leader in the AI revolution who was fired in a shock move Friday, US media reported Sunday.

NASA, with the help of its advanced ground and space-based telescopes, has tracked a mammoth asteroid whose orbit will bring it very close to Earth today. As per the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), an asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2023 VE7, is on its way toward Earth and could make its closest approach to the planet today, November 20.

One of the new features coming in Patch 10.2.5, Seeds of Renewal, is Follower Dungeons — Or the ability to queue into dungeons solo and progress through them with a party of NPCs! We're taking a look on the system on the first 10.2.5 PTR patch to bring a first look into it.

NCSoft has shared a few official videos featuring music tracks from Throne and Liberty, set over footage of the game’s environments and some creatures and NPCs.

It's fair to say that Payday 3 hasn't had the smoothest of launches, but then it was never the easiest of sells. Payday 2 came out in 2013 and amassed a dedicated following, then Payday 3 came along and, on the surface at least, didn't seem to change an enormous amount about how the game worked but committed the cardinal sin of going live service and then… nothing. Since launch there have been plenty of complaints about its offering but only one minor patch, leaving players wondering what exactly was going on.

Destiny 2 has been nominated for an award at 2023’s Game Awards show for Best Community Support. In the wake of Bungie’s extremely recent layoffs, including the game’s community manager, though, players and gamers in general are confused as to why this nomination hasn’t been pulled.

I’ve been around the Destiny 2 block long enough to have experienced that the vast majority of past seasons don’t get any marketing, or a revealed name, until the hour that it comes out. I’m pleasantly surprised to see Destiny 2 Season of the Wish get marketing, but I’m still in the dark about the status of The Final Shape.

Earlier this summer, developer Evening Star Studios and publisher Private Division revealed Penny's Big Breakaway during a Nintendo Direct. While the throwback 3D platforming adventure looked great in its own right, what caught a lot of people's attention was the team behind it. Evening Star's creative director and lead engine architect is Christian Whitehead, one of the lead developers behind 2017's Sonic Mania. Whitehead isn't alone, though, as various other Evening Star developers also worked on Sonic Mania. While we've still got some time before the game's release – it's due out sometime in 2024 – Game Informer has a special sneak peek at its music and can exclusively reveal three tracks from the game. 

Alan Wake 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3, andSuper Mario Bros. Wonder are up for The Game Awards’ top prize of Game of the Year, Geoff Keighley announced Monday.

Earlier this summer, developer Evening Star Studios and publisher Private Division revealed Penny's Big Breakaway during a Nintendo Direct. While the throwback 3D platforming adventure looked great in its own right, what caught a lot of people's attention was the team behind it. Evening Star's creative director and lead engine architect is Christian Whitehead, one of the lead developers behind 2017's Sonic Mania. Whitehead isn't alone, though, as various other Evening Star developers also worked on Sonic Mania. While we've still got some time before the game's release – it's due out sometime in 2024 – Game Informer has a special sneak peek at its music and can exclusively reveal three tracks from the game. 

In 1610, the visionary astronomer Galileo Galilei marvelled at the celestial beauty of the Saturn rings, describing them as resembling "ears." Fast forward to the present day, and these once-distant wonders are now observable to anyone with basic astronomical equipment. However, the clock is ticking on this cosmic spectacle, as recent findings suggest that Saturn rings are on the verge of disappearing from view within the next 18 months.

Doctor Whohad it right: It’s better if you don’t explain time travel.

Final Fantasy 16 has won developer Square Enix the Best Audio award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 powered by Intel.

With Kratos’ vicious past, you wouldn’t expect a God of War Ragnarok Lo-Fi video to surface. However, PlayStation and a few musicians, including Alex Moukala, have released such a thing, and it’s relaxing AF.

Brujah are the first of four playable clans to be revealed for Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 since developer The Chinese Room took over the game's development.

Today, November 8, was another exciting day for the artificial intelligence field as major tech firms made headlines for forays in AI. In the first incident, Samsung introduced a new generative AI model, Samsung Gauss, during its AI forum. The company claims that it can run locally on devices, and some reports are suggesting that it can be introduced in the Galaxy S24 series. In other news, Meta will require advertisers to disclose when political or social issue ads have been created or altered by AI. This will begin starting 2024. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

Bungie surprise-dropped the name for Destiny 2 Season 23, it’s Season of the Wish, and players are roasting Bungie in the comments… for good reason. Prepare for an onslaught of wish jokes.

Destiny 2 is finally answering a mystery lingering since the Forsaken expansion ushered in The Last Wish raid over five years ago.

Samsung Electronics Co. is testing a generative AI model named “Gauss” after a 19th century German mathematician, joining the growing ranks of companies hoping to create rivals to ChatGPT. The world's largest smartphone maker has begun internal testing of a bot that can help staff in the mobile and consumer electronics divisions compose emails, summarize documents and translate content, executives told attendees to a company conference Wednesday.

It’s been a long season for Destiny 2 players, especially after the recent news of mass layoffs at Bungie. But with content still moving along, details for the next Destiny 2 update, Season of The Wish, have been revealed along with a date and time.

Dead by Daylight is bringing back its Stranger Things DLC two years after a licensing issue put an abrupt stop to the crossover.

The opening of Baldur's Gate 3 bears a certain resemblance to that of the beloved 2001 CRPG Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, a fact that's not lost on the writers and designers of the D&D game.

Horror game Dead By Daylight is celebrating Stranger Things day by re-introducing the Stranger Things crossover back into the horror game.

Marvel Studios has been too good at its job. After 15 years of building up the MCU as the ultimate interconnected saga, audiences have really taken to heart the ideathat they need to see everything in order to catch the latest release. This was always going to be a concern — 15 years is a long time! Teenagers that saw Iron Manin theaters are now paying mortgages, spry adults circa 2008 now have to schedule “regular colonoscopy screenings.” It’s a different world, man!

X (formerly Twitter) is in a frenzy regarding the future of Bungie’s live service looter-shooter, and all the buzz has left players wondering, «Will there be a Destiny 3?»

A new tour celebrating the «most iconic video game music» will kick off in May next year.

By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.

On the WoW: What's Next Panel, one of the new systems announced for The War Within are Delves — New outdoor vaults filled with seasonal treasure, leading to a new Great Vault row for outdoor content! One of the things mentioned about systems in general in The War Within is their expressing of a desire to continue to extend the philosophies first explored in Dragonflight, which includes a focus on evergreen content — Wanting to create content for every type of player and making World of Warcraft better, forever. With that in mind, one of the new systems being announced for The War Within is Delves! Delves are composed of outdoor vaults that players will be able to explore in search of treasure, together with the Dragonscale Expedition.

For all you aspiring space wizards out there, Destiny 2 has everything you need when it comes to zapping and blasting baddies. Here’s how each Warlock subclass stacks up against one another.

The Sun has been acting up over the recent months and space scientists have been privy to some amazing sights. And now, yet another such spectacle has played out and this time during a festival. On October 31, Halloween took an astronomically awesome turn when the Sun threw up a colossal 'canyon of fire' stretching across its southern hemisphere. This mesmerising spectacle resulted from a massive eruption of a magnetic filament originating from our star, Spaceweather.com reported. This remarkable phenomenon quickly captured the attention of scientists and stargazers alike.

The creative product emporium iam8bit has teamed up with Blizzard to create two sets of limited edition Vinyl LPs celebrating WoW and BlizzCon 2023. These new LPs are on display in the BlizzCon gear store at the convention, but are also available now online on iam8bit's website for purchase. Be sure to lock in your order now since each LP has only 1000 editions available.

In the continuing war for your data, and amidst increasing privacy concerns regarding Windows 11 and some of its more controversial features, there are some who continue to dedicate themselves to undoing what has already been done. Amongst the numerous guides and applications designed to stop Windows from continuing to gather telemetry on its users, DoNotSpy11 stands out as a popular and somewhat comprehensive solution, and with the latest update it just became a whole lot more powerful.

Depending on who you ask, a game is only as good as its soundtrack, with scores proving essential in nailing the tone the development team wants to create.

There have been an awful lot of layoffs across the game industry in 2023, but against that bleak backdrop this week's cuts at Bungie came as a shock. Fans are mourning the loss of a number of long-term employees, particularly composers Michael Salvatori, who wrote countless memorable tracks for both Destiny games as well as earlier Bungie projects going all the way back to Myth: The Fallen Lords, and Michael Sechrist, the composer of Deep Stone Lullaby, which we called «the most gorgeous piece of game music that you've never heard.»

Yesterday, Destiny 2 fans were stunned when Bungie laid off a sizeable number of staff. As the news sunk in overnight, players became even more downhearted as they realized the composer for Deep Stone Lullaby was among those who lost their jobs.