Video Game Song wins a Grammy

Civilisation video game Bafta 2011

http://www.mcmbuzz.com/

Christopher Tin

http://www.grammy.com/

Last sunday night, February 13, composer Christopher Tin made video game history, becoming the first composer to win a Grammy Award for a song composed for a game.

Tin took home the 'Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)' at the 53rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles for his composition Baba Yetu, the opening track from Sid Meier's Civilization IV. 

Screen Shot Civilization IV video game

http://revistagalileu.globo.com

http://www.mcmbuzz.com/

Tin also won the Grammy for 'Best Classical Crossover Album' for his debut album, Calling All Dawns, which also features the song "Baba Yetu."

Screen Shot Civilization IV video game

http://media.gamesource.it/

The opening song Baba Yetu (feat. Soweto Gospel Choir) is well known to video game fans as the theme song to the popular game Civilization IV. 

Originally written for the game, it has since become a crossover hit outside of the video game industry, and has received close to 1000 live concert performances both from local and professional choirs, and as a staple of the Video Games Live concert tour. 

Check out the song below.

The award is for the song as written for Tin's album Calling All Dawns, but the song was written for the opening credits of Civilization IV, which was released in 2005. That makes Baba Yetu the first video game song to ever win a Grammy.

The song has also enjoyed a place in the Video Games Live show. "The fact that this song has had a life outside of the game is owed almost entirely to Video Games Live. They were the first to bring this music to concert stages around the world and to places I had never dreamed possible," composer Christopher Tin stated.

Check out the song's official video and performance at Video Games Live

Christopher Tin is, primarily, a composer for film, video games, and advertising. 'Calling All Dawns' is his first album.

A native Californian, Tin studied music at Stanford and Oxford universities before launching his career in film, television, advertising, and video game composition.

Education:

•  Curriculum : History ; Music ; Civics.

Others: Helping focus on strategy ; concentration.

• Music curriculum

Goal: Motivating for music composition

• Special needs education: cross-curricular

G-Souto

16.02.2011

Copyright © 2011G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Video Game Song wins a Grammy by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

References:

Cristopher Tin's webpage

https://www.christophertin.com/

Sid Meier's Civilzation IV
http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/

Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com

Vizati a Portuguese video game

Vizati 

Portuguese Different Pixel

http://www.gamersgate.com

A Different Pixel (Portugal) prepara-se para lançar um belo puzzle game. Chama-se Vizati e vem da softwarehouse portuguesa Different Pixel. Os autores são os dois jovens Rita Silva e David Amador.

A ideia é juntar pedras por cor, havendo dois modos de jogo: um História e outro Arcade.

Vizati

http://www.gamezebo.com/

Vizati estará disponível para download no dia 11 de Junho, no Gamersgate.

Preço : 7,45 euros.

Entretanto, fiquem com esta obra nacional, dando uma olhadela pelos ecrãs e pelo teaser.

Vizati

http://www.gamersgate.com

Vizati is a puzzle game that will put your mind to the test. It has been created by two young people Rita Silva and David Amador from Different Pixel (Portugal).

Education:

Students will appreciate a this puzzle that will keep them mentally untangle a problem, then crack it using a few considered manoeuvres.

The game has two modes: arcade and story.

• Arcade: students must to rotate a magical cube to connect (group) the little vizati stones by color and figure out the best way to do it with a limited number of rotations/moves. 

• Story: They can play the Story Mode and follow the story between Julie and Peter who discovered the Vizati cube, or play the Arcade Mode, which is a rawer, faster and even more teasing mode.

"Indeed, it's the gentile nature and subtle story that decorates Vizati's mind-bending main mode that sticks with you, above everything else. With the square itself sat somewhere in the countryside, life actually goes on around you during play, with passers by reacting to its movements and setting off the whole of play with an unusual, but nonetheless memorable, context."

Keith Andrew, Gamezebo

G-Souto

09.06.2010

Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Vizati a Portuguese video game by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

References:

GameOver

http://gameover.sapo.pt/article.html?id=51188

GamersGate

http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-VIZ/vizati

Alice in Wonderland, a video game for young kids at school ?

Alice

Nintendo DS

http://www.nintendo.com/

Here we are again talking about Alice in Wonderland, the fantastic movie by Tim Burton! 

Alice In Wonderland is a 2-D side-scrolling platform adventure whose primary focus is puzzle-solving. 

To track down the items Alice needs, her allies embark on a search through the different levels of Wonderland. 

Now, I would like to let you know my opinion about this Nintendo DS game Alice for young kids (7 years-old, primary school). 

Features: 

•  Join Alice and help her fulfill destiny

• Play as multiple characters with special powers

• Explore worlds, solve puzzles, engage in combat

In the role of the White Rabbit, the Cherishe Cat or the Mad Hatter's, the player must save Alice, threatened at any time by the Red Queen.

Each character that you play uses his special power to change the game: the Rabbit can speed up forward or accelerate time, the caterpillars Absolum stretches to reach inaccessible places.

Alice

Nintendo Gameplay Images

http://www.nintendo.com

Alice is a target that must not give an inch, or she will be taken by a Vortex or hit by a slap from a giant flower. Because, if we let Alice alone too long or standing still, she tends to be spotted or vanish.

The path you take to browse wonderland is full of bad guys, obstacles and puzzles to solve. 

Education: 

Do not expect a game of intense reflection. Every action you make is almost suggested by a subtitle. It's entertaining... for kids, don't forget! Not for adults.

Alice

Nintendo Gameplay Image

http://www.nintendo.com

Some negative points: 

The dialogues are, sometimes, very long. The game is on flash-drive wich requires an adjustment period.

Visual side: 

While the design of the Wii version is highly developed, that of the DS is much more simplistic.

Very dark graphics throughout with touches of color, typically "Burton",  and validated by Tim Burton himself. 

The landscapes are gothic, sometimes psychedelic. A sure choice of the creators, but it works very well!

A fun game, designed especialy for children. A special mention to the originality of the graphism. 

Note:

Teachers must pay attention to these critical thoughts before exploring the game in the classroom.

Target :  Primary education / 7 years-old.

Distributor: Disney Interactive Studios

The DS game is available since 2 March 2010 

Update: May 20, 2014, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service for Nintendo DSi and Wii systems has been retired. 

Online features of this game are no longer available after this date but this game still provides an entertaining experience in offline mode.

G-Souto

12.04.2010
Copyright © 2010G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Alice in Wonderland, a video game for young kids at school ? by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.