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  #1  
Old Jan 19, 2014, 04:58 PM
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Default Kickstarter: Unsung Heroes - potential new Sakimoto soundtrack

Many of you have probably seen this by now, but I thought I'd post it here anyway since some may not have heard.

Yasumi Matsuno is getting a game developed by an American company for which he made the concept and is writing the story. It's called Unsung Heroes and it's being touted as a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics. The game is going to be made regardless of whether or not they meet their fundraising goal, but in their Kickstarter campaign they're looking to raise $600,000 to get the game on PC/Mac/Linux and with more money they'll expand the game's content. If they can raise $1.3 million, Hitoshi Sakimoto will be hired as the lead composer of the soundtrack. At $1.6 million he'll write even more music. If they can raise $2.6 million they'll do a "full orchestra recording" and at $3.1 million, "Hitoshi Sakimoto will now perform a live concert somewhere in Southern California, performing music from some of his most memorable titles."

$50 and above backers will get a download of the soundtrack and $250 or more will get you a physical copy of the album. They're on a good track to get Sakimoto on board, with almost $400,000 raised in five days.
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  #2  
Old Jan 19, 2014, 07:14 PM
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I'm not too optimistic. I would totally throw in for the $50 mark if I knew Sakimoto would do 100% of the music. But the language in the FAQ is still unclear. The way it stands, it seems like Sakimoto will do some main themes and other composers will handle the rest (exactly like Project Phoenix, which backers fell for hook, line, and sinker).

The difference between the Sakimoto goal and the goal before it is $150,000, which would be adequate by most professional standards for a composer's salary for a full soundtrack plus the needed fees for a small amount of live recordings. But I don't know if all of that difference would be dedicated to the music. For all we know it could be the salary for Sakimoto plus some other composers.

I enjoy these indie kickstarters, but in general they need to be extremely explicit about what their stretch goals entail. I want to see language that reads: "At $1.3 million, Hitoshi Sakimoto will compose 100% of the game's music".
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  #3  
Old Jan 20, 2014, 04:53 PM
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yea, especially since I'd doubt they would throw away all the other composition used by the "stand in" composers. (unless they don't start writing until they know the budget, which seems more realistic) you could always try and ask them if Sakimoto will do 100% of the music though.
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  #4  
Old Jan 20, 2014, 08:32 PM
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Yeah, I think asking could be fruitful. If anyone here has backed the campaign, the company is pretty responsive to questions on the comments page. It's nice to see a bunch of Sakimoto lovers there too. You have to be a backer to comment, which I'll likely do sometime before the time limit is up, but if anyone can ask sooner that'd be cool.

I wouldn't object to a soundtrack half written by him and I wouldn't be surprised if Basiscape members would contribute as well. Since the game is still in the pre-production stage and it's not expected to come out for a year and a half, they may well be waiting a month until they know the budget before having anyone start any composition at all.
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  #5  
Old Jan 21, 2014, 03:10 AM
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I'm slowly talking myself into backing this project at one of the middle tiers (it's tough, because going by what they've presented so far I wouldn't have looked twice at it if Matsuno and Sakimoto's names weren't attached... but they are big names for me). When I do - and if nobody else has asked by then - I'll pose a question about the scope of Sakimoto's involvement.
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  #6  
Old Jan 21, 2014, 04:52 AM
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Wake me up when they let Azusa Chiba compose 100% of the music
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  #7  
Old Jan 21, 2014, 09:42 PM
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Azusa Chiba does rock pretty hard. She deserves a solo soundtrack.

Well, there's been a fairly major restructuring of the stretch goals. Hitoshi Sakimoto's involvement will now be assured at the $1 million mark. Apparently this is because the man himself wanted it lowered, so I'd take that as a good sign of his enthusiasm for writing music for the game. $2 million will get the orchestra recording and bonus tracks by Sakimoto (still not clear if this means Sakimoto will add more music to a various artists soundtrack or if he'll be the main/only composer anyway and then just write even more). The concert has also been lowered to $2.4 million. And now you can add $10 (include $15 for international shipping) to your pledge to get a physical copy of the soundtrack or $8 for the download, so no longer do you have to pay $250 to get the CD.

Also of note, if it reaches $750,000, Alexander O. Smith and Joseph Reeder will do the translation, $1 million will allow a PS Vita release, $1.25 million a PS4 release, and $1.5 million for a 3DS release, significantly reduced from before.

I think I'm pretty much sold. I enjoyed FF Tactics enough to be interested in the game and I certainly hope it can make a million so I can get a Sakimoto CD with it even if it turns out not to be all by him.

Last edited by _if; Jan 21, 2014 at 10:02 PM.
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  #8  
Old Jan 22, 2014, 10:30 AM
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250$ minimum backing for a physical copy? Absurd. If it was 50 I'd consider it. I haven't paid $250 for even the rarest sakimoto albums I own.
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  #9  
Old Jan 22, 2014, 02:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dancey View Post
250$ minimum backing for a physical copy? Absurd. If it was 50 I'd consider it.
Pretty much my reaction, too. But, like _if said, as of yesterday's update you can get the physical soundtrack as an add-on of $10 to any pledge.
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  #10  
Old Jan 22, 2014, 03:47 PM
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I did not see that. I can support that.
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  #11  
Old Jan 22, 2014, 05:11 PM
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Yeah, turns out it was actually done even earlier. I didn't scroll down to the prior updates but that change was made with update #3, back on the 15th, before I even posted about it here. So I'll obviously just be adding the $10 to mine as well.

Okay, good news here. One backer asked, "Can you comment on the scope of Hitoshi Sakimoto's involvement should the stretch goal be met to bring him on board? Is the plan for him to create the whole soundtrack, or will the composition be shared with other Basiscape and/or Playdek composers?" and another asked, "Can you please clarify who is doing the soundtrack if the stretch goal is not met? Is his involvement only to produce the major themes?" Playdek responded, "once he joins the project he will do the music for the game. We are very excited at this chance to have him work on this game!" I take it we're intended to interpret "the music" as meaning all the music.

In response to the questions about why a video message from Sakimoto rather than Matsuno was included in the last update, Playdek responded, "Hitoshi Sakimoto wanted to share that video with you to show his excitement for this project. He really wants to be able to join the team and compose our music so he is hoping this message will help get people on board to bring him to the team!"

Last edited by _if; Jan 22, 2014 at 05:13 PM.
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  #12  
Old Feb 10, 2014, 08:33 PM
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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...s/posts/744309
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  #13  
Old Feb 11, 2014, 04:09 PM
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Quote:
We have been able to confirm that Hitoshi Sakimoto will be joining the core team
Well done. That's what I wanted to read.
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  #14  
Old Jan 5, 2019, 07:49 PM
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Going on almost 5 years and we still don't have this game or soundtrack (grumble grumble), but there was an update in the new year that has a sample of Sakimoto's compositions and it sounds good:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects.../posts/2377675

Also, Little Orbit replied to one of the posts with this information:

Quote:
@Unco - our contract required that Sakimoto compose all the major themes and at least 50% of the music overall, but it allowed for his other Basiscape composers to help out on minor themes.
So that is somewhat promising. We'll see what comes of this...
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  #15  
Old Jan 6, 2019, 05:18 AM
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The fact it's called 'Heroes' in the thread title instead of 'Story' bothers me a lot. Can a mod change that?

Anyway, hopefully a "real replication studio to generate the physical version" means a prssed CD and not CDR.
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  #16  
Old Jan 7, 2019, 03:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dancey View Post
Going on almost 5 years and we still don't have this game or soundtrack (grumble grumble), but there was an update in the new year that has a sample of Sakimoto's compositions and it sounds good:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects.../posts/2377675

Also, Little Orbit replied to one of the posts with this information:



So that is somewhat promising. We'll see what comes of this...
That sample sounds great. And as long as it's Sakimoto + Basiscape, that's just fine. It's Sakimoto + random filler composer that I was concerned about.
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