Being a big Nobuo Uematsu fan myself, MTO USA doesn't really have to market a $4.99 downloadable PSP puzzle game featuring his work in my direction. Were I not a fan, however, MTO USA marketing guy Scott Pelland would have had me at "ham sandwich." Pelland hypes up Kurulin Fusion in a post on the official PlayStation blog.

Did I mention that the game is now available for a mere $4.99? Let's put that into perspective. That's less than the cost of a ham sandwich here in Seattle. So, the question really is this; would you rather play an engaging game with world-class, imaginative music and endless replay value…or have a sandwich?

I vote GAME, and I've been a huge freaking sandwich fan for years - but I'd rather have fun than be fat.

So that's our marketing message: Have fun. Don't eat.

He makes a good point.

I'd discuss the game's mechanics, it's earlier incarnation filled with cute doggies, and the Johann Sebastian Bach connection, but Pelland does it all so much better. Read all about Kurulin Fusion at the link below.

Kurulin Fusion for PSP Available Today on PSN [PlayStation Blog]

It wouldn't be Distant Worlds without the music of Final Fantasy and it wouldn't the music of Final Fantasy without Spehiroth's theme from Final Fantasy VII, One Winged Angel. There have been many performances of this number over the years – nearly all of which you can catch on YouTube – but it never hurts to have one more, so here it is for your viewing pleasure. You might say it's over done, but really, if Uematsu digs it, why shouldn't you?

Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY is a world concert tour commemorating Final Fantasy's 20th anniversary. The tour kicked off in Sweden December 4, 2007. I'm not sure where the concert is heading after leaving Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, but here's hoping it wasn't the last we heard of Uematsu and Roth.

Enjoy!

OC ReMix bills the album as a tribute to Nobuo Uematsu, the eminent composer of all the Final Fantasy scores. The three-hour, three-disc project are arranged narratively, as if the listener were playing through the game. Thirty-three artists broke down the project into three acts: Betrayal, Strife and Redemption.

"The musical style of the project is best classified as a rock opera," says an OC ReMix release, "but a variety of genres are represented in the album, enhancing the breadth of the original score."

You may download the artwork and the soundtrack, for free, from the project site.

Final Fantasy IV: Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption - an OverClocked ReMix Album [site]

The July 18th San Francisco performance of Distant Worlds: the music of FINAL FANTASY sold out within weeks of the tickets becoming available on the San Francisco Symphony ticket services site. But don't be completely crushed: it looks like you can still buy tickets to the after party at Crimson Lounge for $110. Uematsu will be there, so consider it a cheaper alternative to moving to Japan.

The Distant Worlds concert series features different selections from Uematsu's Final Fantasy scores and is conducted by Grammy-winner Arnie Roth. It kicked off a world tour in Stockholm, Sweden on December 4, 2007. Find out more about it here.

And in case you plan on hitting eBay or want to shop for scalpers outside the theater, the San Francisco Distant Worlds performance will be at Davies Symphony Hall on July 18 at 8PM.

"Distant Worlds" will be performed July 9 at 7:30 pm and July 10 and 11 at 8 pm. The Grammy Award-winning Arnie Roth is the program's conductor. Tickets are $25. For $100, you can get into a meet-and-greet reception with Uematsu following the performances.

Uematsu has composed video game music going back to 1985, and is widely regarded as the John Williams of video game soundtracks. He composed the scores for all of the Final Fantasy titles, and also did the music for 3D Worldrunner, whose tink-tink-tink chiptone I can still recall, for some reason.

Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy [Seattle Symphony, thanks Billy!]

1UP EIC Proposes With The Help of Final Fantasy Creators [1UP]

I think there are a lot of talented composers these days compared to when we started back in the day. But if I were to name just one person then it would be [Koji] Kondo-san and his beats and music in Super Mario, just his upbeat tempos. I'm sure everyone in the world — no borderlines or age limit — everyone in the world who's come across Super Mario's music will never forget that melody... I think that the Super Mario song should be the national anthem for Japan. [Hums the death refrain] So when someone wins a gold medal at the Olympics, a Japanese athlete, the flag should go up with the theme song. Shoop! ...The world would have a different image of Japan if we use that.

Distant Worlds is coming to Chicago
Thursday, 18. October 2007, 14:00

CHICAGO, October 18, 2007 - AWR Music Productions, LLC announces that Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY will make its U.S. premiere on March 1, 2008 at 8 pm at The Rosemont Theatre, performed by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra and the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra Festival Choir. The 2-hour program produced by composer Nobuo Uematsu and AWR Music Productions will be conducted by Arnie Roth. The exhilarating concert will feature a special guest appearance by Nobuo Uematsu.

Tickets can be purchased online, through the box office, Ticketmaster locations and by credit card at 312-559-1212.

When you purchase a $150.00 ticket, it comes with a after concert meet and greet session with Nobuo Uematsu, a copy of the new Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy CD, and a special tour program book. This can be redeemed at the venue on day of show.

Concert program (not in performance order, subject to change):

FINAL FANTASY series: Main Theme, Swing de Chocobo
FINAL FANTASY I-III: Medley
FINAL FANTASY III DS: Opening
FINAL FANTASY IV: Theme of Love
FINAL FANTASY V: Dear Friends
FINAL FANTASY VI: Opera "Maria and Draco"
FINAL FANTASY VII: One-Winged Angel, Opening - Bombing Mission, Aerith's Theme
FINAL FANTASY VIII: Liberi Fatali, Fisherman's Horizon, Love Grows, Don't be Afraid
FINAL FANTASY IX: Vamo' alla Flamenco
FINAL FANTASY X: To Zanarkand
FINAL FANTASY XI: Memoro de la Stono - Distant Worlds

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi talks up his forthcoming Xbox 360 RPG Lost Odyssey in a recent Famitsu interview. The game follows Kaim, who has been sentenced to live 1,000 years. Besides having "The Gooch" at the helm, Lost Odyssey is being scored by Blue Dragon composer Nobuo Uematsu. Microsoft even established a subsidiary studio, Feel Plus, to help Sakaguchi create the title. So, what does The Gooch say? The game is 70 percent done, load times are being reduced and the game will have a fixed camera. Realism will be provided through "camera vibration and focus effects." What's more, magic attacks will be more powerful than physical attacks, proving that the wand is stronger than the fist. Gooch also adds that the game's theme is "humanity." This will be reflected in the score, which will differ from Mistwalker's first RPG, Blue Dragon. That entire game clocked in at three DVDs. Any takers on how many DVDs Lost Odyssey will be crammed onto? Three? Four? Five? Brian Ashcraft

Lost Odyssey Details [IGN via Siliconera]

At or around this point, whenever Roth would approach the microphone after each song to introduce the next piece, fans from the audience would yell "ZELDA!" Roth had to meet it with "nope, not Zelda," and "not yet!" This time, after Silent Hill, Roth approached the mic and said something to the effect of "our next song is from a game that has been played and enjoyed by millions worldwide, and developed an extreme following," and one crazy fan off in the upper balcony yelled "TETRIS!" and sent most of the theater into a fit of applause and laughter.

The interviews address the basic who-knows-who stuff, and touches on current and future projects (Uematsu is busy with Mistwalker Studio's "Blue Dragon"; Mitsuda has a new CD on the way). The interviewer also asks about Uematsu's rock band The Black Mages, which has a new album out soon. Eliza Gauger

Review and interviews here [N-Sider.com]

There's no word on whether or not he'll be doing all the music or just the one song, but you can listen to the theme here.

Nobuo Uematsu Composing Super Smash Bros. Brawl Main Theme