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KH-Vids: Launch Party Event (Nintendo World NYC - 07/28/2012)

Posted by Mike : Jul 27, 2012 at 11:46 AM ( 20 , 2,963 )

Hello KH-Vids. Are you attending the launch party event in New York City on Saturday (July 28th 2012)? That's right, Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance will be featured at the event. It's all about our beloved Kingdom Hearts and a chance for fans to interact together and enjoy themselves in a party that's ran by the Nintendo store at Rockefeller Center.

AND KH-Vids will be attening! If you're going to the event keep an eye out on Misty, DPWolf and Mike. The three from the KH-Vids team will be there to also celebrate the release of Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance. We'll interview fans and ask them there thoughts on the new title, PLUS their reactions from the series since it first release in 2002. That's right. Ten years ago!

Join the party this Saturday at the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Center, New York City from 9am-1pm. Give yourself the chance of purchasing Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance before any other fan in North America. HOW'S THAT SOUND?

If you're not able to make the event, we'll have coverage later on, which will be uploaded on KH-Vids. That's right! Nobody will miss out!

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Destructoid Exclusive with the Kingdom Hearts Sound Team

Posted by Krowley : Jul 26, 2012 at 7:05 PM ( 2 , 1,151 )

Audun Sorlie is a pationate Kingdom Hearts fan from Destructoid.com who managed to get an exclusive with the Square Enix sound team; Yoko Shimomura, Takeharu Ishimoto, and Tsuyoshi Sekito. The three share their thoughts, feeling and experiences working on the 10th anniversary game.
Special Thanks to our member axel91.

Destructoid said:

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Yoko Shimomura (studio midiplex)
Role: Composer
Selected Past Works: Street Fighter II, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, Radiant Historia, Kingdom Hearts

On ten years of Kingdom Hearts and the vital role her music has played

I am delighted to hear my music has been vital to the success of the series. These ten years flew by very quickly. Kingdom Hearts has allowed me to experience lots of moments both sweet and bittersweet. Despite the different circumstances, I was always involved with Kingdom Hearts one way or another during these ten years. Kingdom Hearts means a lot to me and it is a huge part of my life.

On reuniting with composers Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto

Perhaps the director chooses which songs work best for each of us. But sometimes I can be selfish and request if I can work on specific songs (laughs)

On the challenge faced when creating new songs versus referring back to fan favorites

I put a lot of care into keeping the overall image consistent, even if the songâ€™s arrangement changed drastically. So when working on the song, if I felt something was not right I started all over without hesitation (laughs). I always try to put myself in the playersâ€™ shoes and try to be mindful of how people would want to hear past songs.

On the impact of the Nintendo 3DS hardware on her approach and compositions

The 3DS hardware is truly brilliant. In the past for Nintendo handheld games Iâ€™ve always used the internal sound source to compose. This time, I was able to use a streaming source which enabled me to compose music in a higher quality, which I am very happy about. I didnâ€™t particularly change the way I used sound in the game at this time, but I think it will be a good idea to pursue trying out new types of BGM in the future.

On her favorite pieces from the Dream Drop Distance soundtrack

I hope youâ€™ll forgive me for saying this, but I have a difficult time answering this type of question. For me, all songs are like my children, and itâ€™s hard for me to pick just one song and talk about it. Sorry.

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Tsuyoshi Sekito (Square Enix)
Role: Composer
Selected Past Works: Chrono Trigger (PlayStation), The Last Remnant, performer in The Black Mages and many Square Enix releases

On ten years of Kingdom Hearts and his experiences with the series

I worked on some of the songs for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. I am happy to hear that this year marks the ten-year anniversary of the Kingdom Hearts series and at the same time I recognize how widely the series has been supported by fans around the world. I would be honored if given the chance to work on the series again, and I would like to engage in the project with this great responsibility in mind.

On being reunited with composers Yoko Shimomura and Takeharu Ishimoto

With regards to delegating work, I didnâ€™t have any meetings with Shimomura-san. Primarily, decisions were made during my meetings with the team. In these meetings, depending on the situation, I also discussed things like â€œDo I write new songs?,â€ â€œShould I do any music arrangements?,â€ and â€œWill it be better to have additional songs?,â€ etc.

On the impact of the Nintendo 3DS hardware on his approach and compositions

Including 3D visual effects, there was so much expressive power that it was difficult for me to believe it was for a handheld game device. As such, I also tried to create songs with a fair amount of scale sensitivity. In this particular project, this is especially true of colorful and speedy songs for Dream Eater battles and Dive Mode. I feel that I was able to better emphasize a larger scale of the world without worrying about the the small game screen on the portable device. So far, there have been no unforeseen challenges (laughs).

On his favorite pieces from the Dream Drop Distance soundtrack

Since I am emotionally attached to all the songs, itâ€™s difficult to choose one song â€¦ but if I had to choose one, Iâ€™d say I enjoyed â€Ice-hot Lobsterâ€ the most in the beginning. Now with the game released, after listening to all the songs, â€œMajestic Wingsâ€ is one of my favorites. When listening to it individually it sounds simple, but after listening to a series of several other songs it sounds more free and bold and it gives me energy (laughs).

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Takeharu Ishimoto (Square Enix)
Role: Composer
Selected Past Works: The World Ends With You, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Dissidia series, Kingdom hearts: Birth by Sleep

On ten years of Kingdom Hearts and his experiences with the series

When you say itâ€™s ten years, I realize time flies. The Kingdom Hearts series has played a big role in my personal growth since Iâ€™ve been involved with it, even before I started working on the music composition for the series.

On being reunited with composers Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito

The project team sent both Sekito-san and me a list of songs ahead of time. When I saw TRON on the list, I told them I would work on it. As for THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU, itâ€™s not like we couldâ€™ve had Sekito-san work on it, so Iâ€™ve gone ahead and handled it myself.

On his arrangements of the three tracks from The World Ends With You

It wasnâ€™t that I tried to fit them into the Kingdom Hearts sound. Theyâ€™re pop songs to begin with, so I figured I would arrange in a way thatâ€™s right for everyone.

On the impact of the Nintendo 3DS hardware on her approach and compositions

I actually didnâ€™t really think about it (laughs).

On his favorie piece from the Dream Drop Distance soundtrack

I would say â€œTWISTER.â€
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Kingdom Hearts 2 at #81 on GameRadar's Top 100 list

Posted by Krowley : Jul 25, 2012 at 10:03 PM ( 1 , 1,143 )

Gamesradar has made a Top 100 Games of all Time list and added Kingdom Hearts 2 to the roster. This 2006 game has been placed at the number 81 spot and is accompanied by an article entitled; "Why Kingdom Hearts II is one of the greatest games ever made." Special thanks to axel91 for the news.

GamesRadar said:

It seemed like the silliest crossover in history, didn’t it? Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series, full of emotional and (relatively) mature protagonists clashing with Disney’s historically kid-friendly characters didn’t make a lick of sense at first – honestly, we feared that both companies involved had lost their minds. But once Kingdom Hearts released in 2002, this concept proved to be remarkably fruitful for fans of both parties. The pairing turned out to be absolutely wonderful and – dare we say – magical.

But it had its issues. The combat was a little bit sloppy, the story wasn’t up to Square’s high standards, and the means of traveling between the different Disney worlds, called the “Gummi Ship,” was a flawed game mechanic that took away more than it added. These problems and more were completely solved when Kingdom Hearts II came out, just four years later, fixing all of the our gripes while expanding Kingdom Hearts from an adorable mash-up into its own, remarkable series, earning it a spot on our list of the 100 best games ever.

Kingdom Hearts II’s greatness comes through not just its witty inclusion of Disney characters or its perfect selection of Final Fantasy tropes (though they certainly helped), but in its boldness. Square and Disney could’ve just said “yeah, so, more cartoons,” but that didn’t happen. Instead, they expanded on the story of the original, pulling in new Disney and Final Fantasy characters, and adding some of their own, too.

One of the most controversial, and important, introductions was the misunderstood Roxas. Square, who had spent the entirety of the first game allowing gamers to fall in love with protagonist Sora, outright replaced him for the game’s first act, sending some into an indignant rage. But there was a purpose to swapping out the hero for a blonde newcomer – he was part of the longer play to evolve Kingdom Hearts, a theme that permeated the entire story.

It wasn’t merely a small, fun journey through Disney settings – it was a massive, epic story that was complex enough to spawn five handheld spin-offs without breaking a sweat. Though it was hard to wrap our heads around at first, the introduction to the new enemies and organizations of Kingdom Hearts are part of what made Kingdom Hearts II so good, and helped it become more than the sum of its (already significant) parts.

That’s not to say it didn’t benefit from the tie-ins, though. Kingdom Hearts II was every bit the love letter to Disney films that the first one was, allowing gamers to explore the Pride Land, the world of Tron, and even the Timeless River – a level built to elicit nostalgic feelings of Mickey Mouse’s origins as Steamboat Willy. These, by themselves, would have been enough to force our easily-stimulated brains into overdrive, but the masterful inclusion of Final Fantasy characters provided an exponentially better experience.

The combination of the two completely disconnected licenses was handled perfectly, creating fanboy-pleasing team-ups we’d never even dreamed of. Every conversation had us smiling from ear-to-ear. Hades summoning Auron to fight Hercules is still one of our favorite moments in gaming history, with both original voice actors returning to create one of the most surreal gaming scenes in history. It somehow managed to have a comedic devil-figure meet a stoic Final Fantasy character without betraying either figure’s personalities. We still laugh thinking about that scene, and how amazed we were when it all came together.

Interactions with Mickey, too, were handled flawlessly. He was likely the character altered the most by the Kingdom Hearts series – turned from a smiling mascot of the Walt Disney company into a Yoda-like ninja who bounced around in a mysterious hooded trenchcoat – but the transformation was so wonderful that we couldn’t even pretend to be disappointed when we found out the cloaked warrior darting around the shadows was one of the most memorable icons of all time.

Square also found time, while expanding Kingdom Hearts into its own brand and including some of the best fan service in entertainment history, to improve the gameplay as well. The Gummi Ship segments were completely revamped to the point that we actually fell in love with them, and the combat had been improved dramatically, going from "serviceable" to "impeccable."

Dual-wielding Keyblades and wiping out hundreds of enemies at a time made Sora feel super powerful, and created some of the more entertaining action segments in all of the RPG genre, and being able to summon classic Disney characters to help in battle was a perfect marriage of Disney’s charm and Square’s gameplay style. You could summon Genie from Aladdin to fight against Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth - do you need more of an excuse to smile today? No. You don't. Don't even pretend that you do.

Kingdom Hearts II is remarkably fun to play, with all the depth and intricacies expected from a Square title, but more importantly it was a fearless sequel in an industry that, all too often, plays things super by-the-books. Instead of throwing out a cameo of two, Square-Enix created one of the best mash-ups of all time. It’s filled to the brim with an undying love for everything it encompasses – which, obviously, is quite a lot – and absolutely earns its spot in our list of the 100 greatest games of all time.
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KH3D Mark of Mastery Unboxing

Posted by Krowley : Jul 25, 2012 at 9:41 PM ( 14 , 1,692 )

Square Enix uploaded a 20 minute video to their Youtube channel today, showing the full and detailed unboxing of what people can expect when opening their Mark of Mastery Editions. SE Member Community manager; Robert Peeler, and Product Manager; Raio Mitsuno go into great depth of the contents in this package. Check it out if you' plan on buying this collector's edition and would like a sneak peak of what's in store for you.

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BradyGames KH3D Giveaway

Posted by Krowley : Jul 25, 2012 at 4:29 PM ( 11 , 2,091 )

BradyGames (The Publisher behind the North American KH3D Strategy Guide) is doing an exclusive giveaway! Their Facebook Page is doing a promotional contest with the chance to win some prizes! If you're feeling lucky, just enter their contest by liking their Facebook Page and filling in some minor information. Prizes are as follows;

Grand Prize (One Winner):
KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] 3DS Game
KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] Signature Series Strategy Guide
KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] retail standee

Second Place (One Winner):
KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] 3DS Game
KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] Signature Series Strategy Guide
KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] retail mini-standee

Third Place (One Winner):
KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] Signature Series Strategy Guide
KINGDOM HEARTS 3D [Dream Drop Distance] retail mini-standee

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