With the 20th Anniversary Edition of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers getting nearer and nearer we thought we’d take a look at the remastered soundtrack.

All of the songs were remastered by the series’ original composer, Robert Holmes whose works Moebius: Empire Rising and composed ‘The Taking’ for Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller.

Every remaster features the same the composition levitra online sale and feel of the original Sierra classic, but carry a stronger instrumentation and are no longer held back by the limitations of the time. So with all that said, here are some of the remastered songs. (continue reading…)

The Moebius Live Launch Party starts today at 2pm EST! We will have the company of Jane Jensen along with Robert Holmes to talk about the game; also with us, special guests Owen Thomas who does the voice for Malachi Rector, Colin Benoit who gives life to David Walker, and the talent of Julian Kwasneski who coordinated the voice acting for the game.

Joining us will also be our very own Katie Hallahan and Cesar Bittar with the event being hosted Say Mistage.

Gonçalo Gonçalves
Social Media Associate
Phoenix Online Studios

The plan was to write about story ideas or game mechanics today, but, well, then yesterday happened. I live in Boston and I have my whole life, so as you might imagine, it’s hard for me to think about anything except what happened at the Marathon yesterday. So while this post may have no real connection to game development, it’s still something I wanted to say.

One of the reasons I love to play buy cheapest viagra online and make games, read and writer stories, watch TV and movies, is the escapism. On the whole, my life is pretty predictable and nothing too crazy happens, and that’s just fine by me. I’m happy that way, but it would be a pretty boring as a game or book or TV show. With these slices of entertainment media, I get to escape–I get to pretend I’m the hero in the story, doing amazing things, saving the day, being anything but ordinary.

Yesterday’s tragic events at the Boston Marathon showed us real heroes. Police officers, race volunteers, members of the armed forces, medical personnel, even bystanders and runners, who jumped into action to help the injured. The images are hard to look at, but alongside the tragedy and the dark moments, there’s bravery, selflessness, and love. (In fact, here’s a list of just a few such acts.) People not hesitating for a moment to help strangers, pulling the shirts from their backs to put pressure on wounds, comforting the injured and the scared, carrying people to safety, pulling down barriers to get to those in need.

These are real heroes. They are an inspiration. They are people we should all  hope to be, if we’re ever faced with such circumstances. People we hope will be around us, too. But regardless of that, we should all be grateful these people are in the world, that they are real, and that they are saving lives and making the world a better place just by being in it.

Today my prayers and thoughts are with the victims and the heroes of the Boston Marathon. And with that, I’ll close out with some beautiful words written by Infamous Quests’s Steve Alexander (aka Blackthorne) about Boston. You can also see them here, and offer your thoughts in return.

Boston.

The streets of Boston bleed liberty. They have for over three centuries. From it’s hearty cobblestones and tenacious buildings, the heart of liberty and the pursuit of happiness was forged. Boston has seen rebellion – the symbolic dumping of tea into the harbor in protest. It has seen the blood of its citizens run along its fine streets in a massacre that proceeded freedom. It has endured as a cherished city that saw the birth of a nation, the rise of it’s fine citizens and the growth of its country.

Boston has endured. It has grown – it has expanded, it me the industrial revolution with great fervor and the fires of industry from this great city commingled with the forges of many other great cities to expand our country’s wealth and bring prosperity to our people.

Boston has maintained. The cultural heritage of our patriot fathers – men who founded the ideals, documents and tenets that our country was founded on lives on, active, in this city of living history.

Boston endures. It gives many people the joy and hope of what it meant to be a successful immigrant in the early 20th century – and you can see the joy in celebration every St. Patrick’s Day.

Boston flourishes. Art, music, literature – many great works of human creation have poured out of this great city, bringing joy, adventure, mystery, beauty and mischief to an adoring public.

Boston adapts. The city weathered the uncertain economic times of the late 20th century and early 21st century, constantly forging ahead in spite of tremendous odds.

Again, the streets of our Beloved Boston run red with the blood of innocents – innocents who were ruthlessly attacked by men of cowardly means. By people who wish to instill fear on the good people of the world.

We must not despair. We must not forsake humanity in this time, as it is not humanity who is forsaken at this time – but a small few who are so afraid of life that they seek to destroy it, to keep themselves insular. Away from change.

But we will endure. We will flourish. We, the good of humanity will not let this stand. We will not be scared into our homes, cursing out fellow brothers, and live in fear of each other. We will not let these few men destroy the bonds of fellowship that join every decent man, woman and child of this great nation, and of this amazing planet. We will flourish. We will rise. We will not be deterred.

We, like Boston, will stand. United. With liberty and justice for all.

We are extremely excited to finally announce that Phoenix Online Studios is working with Jane Jensen and Pinkerton Road on her upcoming adventure game, Moebius!

After working with Jane on Cognition, we’re just ecstatic (and pinching ourselves!) to be continuing that relationship with Moebius. With mystery, intrigue, and a touch of the supernatural, in Moebius the player takes on the role of Malachi Rector as he investigates a series of events around the globe, uncovering startling truths about the nature of time and life itself in the process. With Jane at the helm and Andy Hoyos, also of Sierra fame, leading the Art Direction, you know it’ll be a fantastic, high-quality adventure game, and Phoenix is working hard to make Moebius a game you’ll enjoy and remember.

Entitled “The Taking”, Robert Holmes has delivered a beautiful composition that gels greatly to Austin Haynes’ soundtrack to the game. The main vocals are performed by the very talented and beautiful Raleigh Holmes, Robert’s own daughter, who also plays the main role of Erica Reed in the game.

The song is very much like in the vein of Robert’s band, “The Scarlet Furies“, for which Raleigh acts as the lead singer. It’s very reminiscent of some of the previous songs by the band, and it has a vibe that reminds me of some of the best pieces from Natalie Merchant.

Previously, Robert composed the music to Jane Jensen’s acclaimed Gabriel Knight and Gray Matter games.

This track will definitely be part of the soundtrack of the game, for which we are planning a full release, probably closer to the release of the final episode of the game.

Have a listen to a sample!

[grandmp3 id=1755 autoplay=false]
The Scarlet Furies – The Taking Sample

Tim Turi from Game Informer posted a very shiny preview of the demonstration we showed to him at GDC 2012 in San Francisco. Check out how much he loved the game and take a look at brand new screenshots!

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/cognition/b/pc/archive/2012/03/06/a-supernatural-adventure-with-mystifying-visuals.aspx

With Space Quest: Vohaul Strikes Back, a fan-made feature-length sequel to the Sierra Classic series, and Space Quest 2: Vohaul’s Revenge, a full VGA remake of the same title by the guys at Infamous Adventures, this will be a very awesome December for fans of Space Quest.

And seriously, who isn’t a fan? Let’s all adventure with our favorite intergalactic hero, the man, the legend, the janitor! Roger Wilco!

*scuddles off to play*

-Cez

You were all amazing this year in showing your generosity and support in our Kickstarter campaign. So we’d like to draw your attention to another way to be generous in the holiday season for a great cause by gamers and for gamers, to bring some joy to kids who could really use it. Many of you have probably heard of the game industry charity Child’s Play, but if not, here’s the scoop:

Since 2003, we’ve set up and organized Child’s Play, a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 70 hospitals worldwide. Over the years, you as a community have answered the call and come together to raise millions of dollars.

Child’s Play works in two ways. With the help of hospital staff, we set up gift wish lists full of video games, toys, books, and other fun stuff for kids. By clicking on a hospital location on our map, you can view that hospital’s wish list and send a gift.

Child’s Play also receives cash donations throughout the year. With those cash donations, we purchase new consoles, peripherals, games, and more for hospitals and therapy facilities. These donations allow for children to enjoy age-appropriate entertainment, interact with their peers, friends, and family, and can provide vital distraction from an otherwise generally unpleasant experience.

In other words, a great charity for kids who could really use some cheer–and now is a great time of the year to give back! So if you’re a gamer and looking for a great way to help others in the holiday season (or any time), we highly recommend checking out Child’s Play.

* Please note that we cannot sell TSL-branded items.

The Scarlet Furies, whose music was featured in the soundtrack of Jane Jensen’s Gray Matter and whose members include [i]Gabriel Knight[/i] composer Robert Holmes and his daughter Raleigh, are running a kickstarter campaign to raise money for a live album!

The Scarlet Furies ( http://www.scarletfuries.com ) is a folk/roots band fronted by singer, songwriter Raleigh Holmes. We have played over 50 shows in the last year with folks like Leon Russell, The Subdudes, Jim Messina, and Peter Asher, and have been getting rave reviews for our first CD “Dark Clad Company”, Produced by longtime Paul McCartney guitarist Rusty Anderson, and mastered by Gavin Lurssen (T Bone Burnett). We also recently completed the soundtrack and score for the hit video games “Gray Matter” and “Dying For Daylight”.

Check out their website for some samples of their beautiful and unique music!