Nobuo Uematsu Splitting With Square Enix

FreyarHunter writes "According to Gamespot, Nobuo Uematsu and Square will be separating. Nobuo was the person responsible for the mostly awe-inspiring music for the Final Fantasy games. The report indicates that he will be moving to a company called "Smile Please". While this was first thought to be a rumor it was later announced on Uematsu 's fansite that it is true. He states that it isn't "quitting", but more of a graduation. There are hints in this article saying he will still do work for Square, but at his own pace. The good news is that he still plans to write more music for video games, perform more concerts, and produce the second Black Mages Album."

Say What Now?

[Anonymous Coward]

I ran the usual suspects (Google, etc.) but I can't find any good info on Black Mages. I mean, WITHOUT it being a video_game_walkthrough.txt.

So what is this "First Black Mages Album?" Anyone have a link to a site with some samples? I know _I_ love the music, and would be interested in hearing more.

-theGreaterUninformedPublic.

Japanese Jobs

[AviLazar]

One thing to note for Japanese jobs - people in Japan do not job jump as much as we do in the US. In Japan - moving around too much (company to company) is bad for the resume. So when someone leaves a company - it tends to be a big deal.
Ahh FF1 - still my favorite all time...Though FFX is tied or a close second...have yet to play FFX-2, and I won't play FF online due to the monthly membership costs and the fact that they delete your account if you neglect to pay for one month.

Sad to see him go, but ...

[isolationism]

... You can't say there wasn't warning. In the past few games he's been passing off more and more of the music to other artists. The argument that this is so only because the games are becoming bigger isn't particularly true since you've been seeing four-disc Final Fantasy soundtracks since FF VII and three-disc soundtracks before that.

Frankly, I love Uematsu's work but I'm happy to see him move on to other things and pursue his own interests and goals; I think he's earned the ability to do it. Besides, I see him doing for Square Enix' Final Fantasy music what Amano has been doing all along for their character design: Inspirational pieces from which the main themes are based (particularly those melodies that recur throughout the game, like the Zanarkand theme from FFX or Melodies of Life from FFIX).

Here's to more "inspired by" or arranged albums like The Black Mages, Pray, Love Will Grow, and Celtic Moon, too (I was disappointed at the offering in this department for Final Fantasy X; maybe now it will come out of the woodwork). It sounds to me like Mr. Uematsu retains some rights -- or still has very good relationships with Square Enix -- to continue re-recording those old works, which suits me plenty fine.

Re:Remembrance

[The boojum]

I know others have mentioned it in this thread, but do have a look at OCRemix.org [ocremix.org] and VGMix.com [vgmix.com]. Both have some very nice remixes of FF music. (OCRemix even has a remix [ocremix.org] of the FF6 theme in homage to Uematsu from Jeremy Soule, composer for quite a few recent games.) Finally, for the original stuff, I'd suggest having a look at Zophar's Domain [zophar.net]. One of the reasons I still use WinAmp and not iTunes or such is for the SNESAmp [alpha-ii.com] plugin to play the SNES SPC files.

Omens of DOOOOOM!

[realityfighter]

If I recall, this is how LucasArts started sliding too. Their best composer left just as the games started going downhill...

Mist Walking

[Carlos Rodriguez]

I saw it coming too... Another sign was Sakaguchi leaving Square to create Mist Walker [gamespot.com]. Sakaguchi had expressed a desire [rpgfan.com] to work with old pal Yoshitaka Amano, so I figured that a collaboration with Uematsu wouldn't that far behind, as well. Uematsu going freelance would give him the possibility to work with Sakaguchi without him burning bridges with Square. Chances are Mist Walker's first project will have Uematsu onboard.

(and that said, I wouldn't be surprised if Uemeatsu collaborated in Final Fantasy XIII - Square has no problems working with freelance composers).

80's synth music indeed

[bani]

reminds me of the vacuous big hair metal bands of the 80's.

For something different, Machinae Supremacy [machinaesupremacy.com] instead. Nothing beats screaming guitars backed by a SID6581...

Not only that, MS have free downloads in ogg format...

Re:Mist Walking

[isolationism]

Indeed; in the same vein, another perhaps less-recognised name (but in this humble poster's opinion, that which belongs to a more favourite artist than Nobuo Uematsu) would be Yasunori Mitsuda, most notably of Chrono Cross/Chrono Trigger and Xenogears (and the subsequent Xenosaga) fame (as well as a few little songs here and there, including several in Tobal No. 1).

As Mr. Mitsuda has shown, you can be a free agent and write music for Tsugunai but still come back to Square Enix should they ever decide to create a successor to the Chrono- series. Fingers crossed.