This week’s mix is just one of the many songs I recorded with Landon Peck in the latter part of 2008 as part of my first multitrack recording class. Until recently, the song sat basically unmixed and untouched since we had laid down the basic tracks of acoustic, vocals, and a terrible attempt at percussion (solely my doing) using a tambourine and a guitar case. Thankfully with some new gear and drummer Austin Gardner, this song was fully fleshed out earlier this year and I took it upon myself this past week to finally put a mix together.

The biggest “struggle” I found when mixing Let’s Close Our Eyes was that we originally recorded a “Bass” track using my de-tuned Taylor acoustic. Getting this to stand out in the mix proved to be difficult at first, and actually resulted in the bass being overbearing…so much so that it was impossible to listen to. After a remix where I toned down the bass, reneged on some questionable kick drum eq, and finally got the cymbals under control, I’ve landed on something of which I’m incredibly proud.

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Due to a severe underestimation of my schedule for the past two weeks, including a brand new episode of Mos Eisley Radio, Mix A Week quickly turned into Mix Every Other Week. But I’m back on schedule, and have some mixes lined up for coming issues. This week I bring you a mix of “The Dell Began to Bloom” by my dear friend Landon Peck. Undoubtedly if you’ve seen the portfolio section of my site, then you’ve heard his song “American Spirit”. The Dell builds on Landon’s songwriting approach, and is his first project we’ve worked on that includes electric guitar. What we ended up with was an intricately orchestrated song that unfortunately just had a bit too much going on. The choice to remove the strings and trumpet from the B section of the song is one of my few forays into sitting in the producer’s chair and saying, “This needs to go”.

Thankfully it was the right choice, and this week I present to you the (quasi) final version of “The Dell Began to Bloom”.

Download Mix-A-Week #2

Advanced Class System before E3? We weren’t expecting that at all. The two of us venture into the details of the system, and speculate on what it could mean for the other classes. We also cover the newly added planet of Hoth, as well as the Inhabitants section of the Holonet. Like we mention in episode 17, there was a huge backlog of listener questions so we take the time to get caught up, touching on everything from land mounts to whatever happened to Revan and Bastila. And don’t forget to check out the new segment covering general Star Wars news.

Download and check out the show notes at our OFFICIAL SITE.

So without further adieu, I present my first mix for the summer: Busted Creek’s “Suburban Skyline”. If my memory serves correct, this was tracked in the Fall of 2008, and was my first project with a traditional rock band. Give it a listen and feel free to let me know what you think!

Download Mix-A-Week #1

It has been much too long since we’ve been able to record a new show…and the ridiculous amount of news we cover in episode 17 reflects that! Going all the way back to Voss, we touch on all of the updates through the new Developer Video #4 on Combat. In an effort to give new features like the “Inhabitants” section and the new webcomic the attention they deserve, we’ll be discussing those on episode 18. But there’s more here than just official updates! Based on the recent news around Blizzard’s Celestial Steed mount, we dive headfirst into a great discussion on micro-transactions and how Bioware will likely include them in The Old Republic.

Download and check out the show notes at our OFFICIAL SITE.

Holy crap PAX East was a blast! Between playing new games, sitting in on some great panels, and listening to the best in nerd music, we had our weekend cut out for us. The conference was a resounding success, and we’ve chosen to highlight some of the best games and panels we saw. But don’t fret! There’s also a solid amount of The Old Republic news to get caught up on, including discovery of the game testing portal, the addition of the Biographies tab, and a word from Damion Schubert on group XP versus solo XP. All that and more! Give it a listen and let us know what you think in the comments.

Download and check out the show notes at our OFFICIAL SITE.

Download and check out the show notes at our OFFICIAL SITE.

Are We Crazy?
The cornerstone of the discussion behind EA’s purchase stemmed from the Christmas wrap-up and prediction episode of the 4 Guys 1 Up Podcast. John Davison’s first prediction was that one of the major four game publishers would be purchased by a larger media conglomerate sometime within the next year. His best guess? EA, primarily due to a number of its properties that dovetail with a large media company, especially a group like Disney. What we neglected to mention on the show was that this theory actually has some wings.

Martin Peers of The Wall Street Journal (coverage from Kotaku) actually brought forth the idea that Disney should purchase EA back in 2008. At the time, the company had taken a huge dive in its market value, with its stock dropping about $45 dollars per share from the previous Christmas season. The WSJ article is still true today, as its stock has failed to make any real recovery. Between the ability to tie in properties and the vastly lower purchase price, Disney could stand to make a huge profit by providing EA with the financial stability it needs to bounce back.

Blending the Lines
Even if we consider the power of companies like Comcast or National Amusements (they own CBS, Paramount Pictures, and more), Disney is really the ultimate example of a company looking to pick up EA, and the pieces start to fall in place very quickly. First and foremost is the natural combination of ESPN and the Madden, Tiger Woods, and FIFA franchises. Mickey Mouse cannot go wrong with the four most recognizable sports brands under a single roof. Also, Disney could easily expand its NASCAR influenced Richard Petty Driving Experience to include the export tuner demographic that Need For Speed markets (police “chases”, time trials, etc.)

The biggest opportunity that both companies have is to reinvigorate the theme park market by integrating a video game experience into rides and attractions. While Disney has started to venture into this area already, by bringing in development powerhouses like Maxis and Mythic they stand to grow that area by leaps and bounds.

Speaking Of..
At this point we’ve covered everything that doesn’t apply to our favorite development team. When speaking strictly in terms of dollars and cents, both Warhammer Online and The Old Republic provide constant revenue streams in a market that a company like Disney has failed to tap. Sure, Disney Interactive has managed to grab some money from parents buying the most recent Lilo and Stitch or Hannah Montana title, but they’ve failed to reach out to the hardcore gamers of the world in a meaningful way.

With SWTOR set to be the only contender to ActiBlizzard, Disney would be blind to see that EA is finally on the verge of making their financial comeback. The Spring 2011 release date puts the game in a perfect storm of post-Cataclysm boredom and the pre-summer release lull. What better way to start the new fiscal year with a boom than to prey on the thousands of disenfranchised Warcraft players enticed by all the opportunities that The Old Republic provides, not only in new gameplay experiences and mechanics, but in a Star Wars setting that we all know and love.

Meddling Hands Beware…
Gamers have a long history of despising the “buyout”. There are countless stories of developers being gobbled up and dismantled by publishers (EA not excluded). So what makes our situation different?

If Disney were to approach EA with a purchase deal, we can be rest assured that folks like John Riccitiello (EA’s CEO) and Ray Muzyka (CEO at BioWare Corp and Senior Vice President and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group) would be our biggest advocates. With both companies looking to increase their market and overall revenue, they would be foolish to meddle in the everyday details that directly affect how and what we play. There is no benefit in stirring up the employment stew, removing the people who have managed to create so much positive buzz and excitement about a property that is still over a year away. The community backlash would reach epic proportions.

Of course we do write this with some trepidation in light of the recently announced lawsuit involving Activision and two of its recently-fired heads of Infinity Ward. But thankfully (for SWTOR fans) that situation is more about the rights to a franchise than anything else. With LucasArts involved, and Disney’s previous experience with Lucas properties, the chances of something like that happening to Bioware are slim to none.

Are We Just Talking To Talk?
It’s easy to get bogged down in the details about this property or that stock value. It’s even easier to wonder if this even effects what we as gamers care about the most: the characters, the story, the mechanics, the people. But we feel that it is important to see the whole picture beyond the virtual world we so very much want to be a part of. The educated gamer who cares about the entire process is the better gamer, and we want to do our best to spark meaningful discussion not only about the latest Trooper animation (which was sick, right?), but the games industry as a whole and what it really takes to push out an amazing title like The Old Republic.

See the original post at Mos Eisley Radio

Download and check out the show notes at our OFFICIAL SITE.

Download and check out the show notes at our OFFICIAL SITE.