GAMES
Xbox and 88rising: Music, Games, and Shared Experiences
Music and gaming have always been synonymous with each other, and when perfectly paired, the combo of audio and visual storytelling can often lead us to emotional and unforgettable experiences. From start screen nostalgia to sweaty palmed boss battle crescendos and watery eyed goodbyes, there’s a never-ending list of moments that continue to resonate with us long after the credits roll.
Often, those moments help to bring us together, too. Whether you’re empathizing with upvotes in r/eldenring or singing Halo acapella in a restroom with 25 of your closest friends, there’s joy in both shared experiences and in the discovery of new ones.
This May, as we continue the celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we wanted to offer up the opportunity for more discovery and a deeper connection to the APIHM community by inviting our friends in both music and gaming to share their favorites. Below, you’ll hear from artists signed to 88rising, as well as content creators we’ve featured in our Xbox Plays sessions earlier this month. There’s also a Spotify mixtape we put together that we think will be your new favorite playlist. We hope you enjoy what’s been shared as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
What made you fall in love with gaming, and what are your most memorable gaming moments?
I’ve always been really into games, starting from those dress up and cooking Flash games on random websites, it’s always been my favorite pastime. I love that it kept me awake and active mentally. I especially love when I can use my creativity! Like building houses, farms and bases! My most memorable gaming moment would probably be when a bunch of my high school friends and I made a Minecraft server during school break, and we would go on everyday to create this huge village with a town hall and different areas. There was even some lore! It was so fun to hang out with my friends online without having to actually leave my room, and when we came back to school we had a bunch of inside jokes!
What are your favorite games of all time?
I think the best game of all time for my play-style is Minecraft. The way it allows you to play in so many different ways, alone or with friends, is so amazing, and the fact that it always gets updated every year is so exciting. I always end up going back to it. I also really like The Sims, I used to always only build houses but recently I’ve started actually playing with the characters and I’m on my 5th generation! I also would like to highlight Apex Legends, Minecraft Dungeons, Stardew Valley, and PUBG!
Is there game music or a game soundtrack that resonates with you or makes you feel nostalgic?
The Minecraft home screen sound is probably the most nostalgic sound to me. I also love all of Stardew Valley‘s in-game music. I even listen to it sometimes when I have work to do. My favorite is probably “Dance of the Moonlight Jellies.” It is such a perfect tune to accompany the visuals of the scene and you can hear the sound of waves and it is just so serene. I will say they definitely inspired me to want to learn how to make music for games.
What made you fall in love with gaming, and what are your most memorable gaming moments?
What made me fall in love with gaming was how it served as a great way for me and my siblings to bond. Family is extremely important to me. We love getting together on our days off to play video games.
What are your favorite games of all time?
I love Minecraft, Call of Duty: Black Ops (2, 3, and 4), Resident Evil, Guitar Hero, and the Batman Arkham video game series.
Is there game music or a game soundtrack that resonates with you or makes you feel nostalgic?
Batman Arkham City’s “Mercenary” by Panic! At The Disco and of course, my song “Entertain Me” which was actually included in the launch trailer of Valorant’s playable character Agent Neon. It was a really interesting experience being able to blend the worlds of gaming and my music together!
What made you fall in love with gaming, and what are your most memorable gaming moments?
The first games I was well and truly obsessed with were Diablo II and StarCraft — my parents ended up breaking the CDs because I was playing so much. I also would love playing Goldeneye and Super Smash Bros. with my friends on N64. My most memorable gaming moment ever though is probably beating the Taken King raid in Destiny 1 on hard mode with a group of homies on PS4. We spent like 8 hours on that, and finally clearing it was the most satisfying feeling ever.
What are your favorite games of all time?
Right now, it’s Apex Legends and Legends of Runeterra. Diablo II, StarCraft, and the OG Super Smash Bros when I was a kid. Oh and of course Pokémon (Red gang gang).
Is there game music or a game soundtrack that resonates with you or makes you feel nostalgic?
Whenever I hear the Legend of Zelda theme, I’m 8 years old again. I loved Ocarina of Time – not only was the music incredible, I loved how they actually incorporated music into the gameplay, and really nailed how the music you learn in game gives you power.
What made you fall in love with gaming, and what are your most memorable gaming moments?
I really got invested into online gaming at a lonely point in my life, so I definitely really appreciate and love the social aspect of it – being able to connect with friends from all over the country, and the world through gaming! I think my most recent memorable gaming moment was hitting Masters for the first time in Apex Legends.
What are your favorite games of all time?
Anything Pokémon really, Apex Legends, and Final Fantasy XIV.
Is there game music or a game soundtrack that resonates with you or makes you feel nostalgic?
The Littleroot Town theme from Pokémon Emerald really takes me back to my childhood, when I’d just be splayed on my bed happily starting my Hoenn adventure on my Nintendo DS. It just always makes me feel comfy and at home whenever I hear that track.
What made you fall in love with gaming, and what are your most memorable gaming moments?
Zelda: Ocarina of Time holds a special place in my heart because me and my family would sit and play the game together. Sometimes they would let us stay up with them to finish some of the puzzles or watch a boss fight. The game itself was amazing too, there was really fun action combat, interesting characters, awesome scenery and incredible music!
What are your favorite games of all time?
Coincidentally, Zelda: Majora’s Mask is absolutely one of my favorite games of all time. It was the first game I played that had an eerie and unsettling setting. As strange as it sounds it was really refreshing to play a game like that. It really kickstarted my love for other games that are similar, like Bloodborne.
Is there game music or a game soundtrack that resonates with you or makes you feel nostalgic?
The OST from Tunic, Dustforce, Celeste, Persona 5, Zelda: Majora’s Mask, and Bloodborne are all amazing video game music that I adore so much.
What made you fall in love with gaming, and what are your most memorable gaming moments?
Gaming has always been a part of my life since I was a kid – it just feels so natural. I remember playing Tetris on the original Game Boy, then moving on to Kirby Super Star and Super Mario World on the SNES. Super Mario 64 on the N64 and Final Fantasy VII on the PlayStation were my first foray into 3D video games. My love for RPGs in general grew from there, when I dove into the rich worlds of Final Fantasy VIII through X-2, as well as Diablo II on PC. Fast forward to now, where I’ve completed dozens and dozens of games across various platforms, largely thanks to my 7+ year streaming career on Twitch. There are so many memorable gaming moments, from finishing my first solo Dark Souls playthrough at 295 deaths, to being moved to tears during Ori and the Blind Forest, to enjoying a no-VATS stealth sniper build in Fallout 4.
What are your favorite games of all time?
My favorite games of all time are too many to list these days! But the ones that always come to mind when I’m asked include: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Final Fantasy VII (and Final Fantasy VII Remake), Ori and the Blind Forest, Bloodborne, Red Dead Redemption 2, Hollow Knight, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Immortals Fenyx Rising, and Yakuza 0.
Is there game music or a game soundtrack that resonates with you or makes you feel nostalgic?
The soundtrack to Final Fantasy VII/Remake is probably the most iconic for me. I had the fortune of attending the Final Fantasy VII Remake Orchestra World Tour earlier this year, and being able to experience a classic video game soundtrack through a live orchestra is absolutely phenomenal. Other noteworthy soundtracks include those from Dark Souls III, Bloodborne, Ori and the Blind Forest, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I’ve found that the music from a game can stick with you for years and really adds to the whole of an enriching gaming experience.”
What made you fall in love with gaming, and what are your most memorable gaming moments?
There are so many moments and reasons that I absolutely love gaming. But it ultimately boils down to two things, the friends I’ve made and the ability to jump into another world. I remember buying my very first handheld console w my brother and sharing it. We weren’t allowed to own one. So at night, we would take turns holding a flashlight while the other played under our covers.
What are your favorite games of all time?
Digimon World, Ragnarok Online, Maplestory, Megaman X, Legends, Battle Network, Final Fantasy VII and VIII, PoyPoy, League of Legends, Pokémon Leaf Green, and Monster Rancher.
Is there game music or a game soundtrack that resonates with you or makes you feel nostalgic?
Digimon World, Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, 10, Ragnarok Online, Kingdom Hearts, “Warriors” (ft. Imagine Dragons). My wife walked down the aisle to Final Fantasy VIII‘s “Eyes on Me” and now I hum it to my son for bedtime.
What made you fall in love with gaming, and what are your most memorable gaming moments?
For as long as I can remember, I have been playing video games, starting games like Street Fighter II and TMNT: Turtles in Time on SNES. I’ve had so many memories of gaming, and a lot of them have been saved on Twitch – but I remember very distinctly the first few days of Gears of War 3 launch. My friends and I all attended different universities, but we all picked that game up at midnight. We’d all skip our classes and chill over Xbox Live and earned every achievement of that game.
What are your favorite games of all time?
Gears of War is by far my favorite franchise. Some honorable mentions: the Just Dance franchise – because it’s the last standing rhythm-based game on consoles, and For Honor for being one of the most unique combat games out there.
Is there game music or a game soundtrack that resonates with you or makes you feel nostalgic?
I think the easy cop-out answer here would be to give praise to any Nintendo franchise or any of the Final Fantasy soundtracks, so I’m going to go with a curveball and say Saints Row: The Third. That game had handpicked tracks for specific moments of the game that made it feel cinematic. One moment you’re jammin’ to Kanye West jumping out of helicopters, and the next you’re fighting luchadores while listening to songs from “The Karate Kid.” When you’re not doing those things, you’re cruisin’ down the street with the homies listening to Sublime while singing lyrics to a song you didn’t know you knew the lyrics to. Honorable mention: Need For Speed: Underground. Let’s be real – everyone is following that playlist on Spotify. If you aren’t, I bet you’re about to go do it right now after reading this.”
Play. Connect. Impact: Learn more about all that Xbox and Microsoft are doing in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month at our Xbox Community Hub and Microsoft’s AAPIHM Community Hub.
About 88rising: 88rising is the pioneering global music & media company representing the best of Asian talent. 88rising was the first company to launch an Asian-centric music festival in the United States (Head in the Clouds Music & Arts Festival – now in its fourth year), the first to have an Asian artist top the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop charts and Spotify’s Weekly Global Albums chart, and the first to launch an all-Asian radio channel reaching all of North America. In 2021, 88rising executive produced and curated the soundtrack to “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” – Marvel Studios’ first Asian-American superhero. In 2019, they were awarded Label of the Year by NetEase, one of the largest music streaming platforms in China. With over 160 million followers across global social media platforms and over 40 billion total streams and views, 88rising’s global influence is undeniable.
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GAMES
This Week’s Deals with Gold and Spotlight Sale
GAMES
The German Empire Marches to Italy in a Free Expansion Today
We have a new expansion for our WW1 Italian Front FPS game Isonzo releasing today! It’s the first part of our Caporetto season of free expansions, and features a whole new faction with the arrival of the German Empire on the Italian Front, and brings a new map for the Offensive game mode. There will be two more releases in the Caporetto season, each one with a new map to ultimately link together into a three map Caporetto Offensive.
The German faction comes with more than ten new weapons, as well as historically accurate uniforms and equipment. This first Caporetto map sees you taking part in the early stages of the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, with German troops assaulting Italian positions on the road to Caporetto. Historically it was a military disaster for Italy which brought down the government – but maybe things can go differently with you on the battlefield?
The update sees new uniforms and equipment from the German Empire for Isonzo’s six classes: Rifleman, Assault, Engineer, Officer, Marksman and Mountaineer. For those who aren’t familiar with the game, each class has different weapon, gear and perk options that allow you to specialize your play style within the overall focus of the class. For instance, Marksmen are always sharpshooters, but a lot depends on your loadout. You could be a long-range sniper and observer identifying and eliminating high value targets with a scoped rifle, or you could equip body armor to take and hold a front line position with deadly accurate mid-range fire. Every class has choices to make in this regard.
In Isonzo’s signature Offensive game mode, one side must attack and break through multiple defensive lines. Thick layers of barbed wire, trenches, and whatever extra defenses the enemy engineers put together will stand in the way of a successful attack. Objectives can be taking and holding key points, or planting dynamite to sabotage enemy supply stashes or heavy artillery guns.
The new Caporetto map – the first of three in the season – is a huge battlefield based on the strategically important Monte Kolovrat. There are five defensive lines, where each line has two objectives for the attackers before they can advance further. While in the historical Battle of Caporetto both German and Austro-Hungarian forces were involved, in Isonzo we’ve chosen to focus on the German contribution, so the map recreates the stunning German advance from the town of Tolmein all the way to Kolovrat Ridge. It’s a damp, overcast day when the attack begins, and the attackers must first cut their way through lines of wire to break into a devastated town – including capturing a church defended by multiple heavy machine gun positions. Fortunately, in Isonzo there are many tactical options available to deal with such strong points: artillery barrages, smokescreens, snipers, rifle grenades, even poison gas. From there, it becomes a literal uphill battle for the German attackers as they begin to climb towards the peak of Kolovrat Ridge. They’ll need to sabotage bunkers and capture command posts while navigating rocky trenches and steep forested slopes. At the penultimate fourth defensive line there is a huge siege mortar to sabotage and a cluster of houses providing cover to the Italian defenders – then it’s one last climb to reach the final objective: Hill 1114. If the Germans can take it, the Italians will finally be the ones fighting uphill as their reinforcements stream in to try and counterattack.
Of course, things are no walk in the park for the defenders either – although it’s easier to maneuver when going downhill, and it’s much simpler for officers to deploy flares to call in support, the extensive trench lines can become a liability once the Germans get a foothold, providing cover as they advance. Some of the Italian defensive positions can be exposed against the sky, making it easy for German marksmen to pick off targets. Italian engineers should make good use of their construction abilities to put down additional sandbags and lay out extra wire to prevent German assault troops sneaking through the trees to flank trenches with their grenades or light machine guns.
As we mentioned before, historically the Battle of Caporetto was a disaster for the Italians. Appalling leadership led to poorly motivated and unprepared troops falling apart in the face of the combined Austro-Hungarian and German armies using cutting edge infiltration tactics. The Italian soldiers were not allowed to retreat until too late, and in the end hundreds of thousands would surrender. After Caporetto the top Italian general was fired and replaced by someone far more competent, who managed to turn the war around for the Italians. In Isonzo, it’s a more fair fight where both sides have an equal chance of winning, if they can use all the tactical options available better than their opponents.
The release will also bring other improvements to the game, including a prestige mode and higher level cap. Additionally, for those who want more options for visual customization of their character, the Royal Units DLC is releasing alongside the free expansion and contains uniforms from the German Kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg. Though part of the German Empire, these states had their own distinctive uniforms which we’ve carefully recreated with the same accuracy and attention to detail as with the other uniforms in the game.
The Battle for Caporetto Begins…
Isonzo is available right now on the Microsoft Store for Xbox, and the free Caporetto expansion is out today! Plenty of time to master the art of mountain warfare before the German Empire joins the action on the Italian Front. Follow us to get the latest development news as we add the finishing touches!
We’ll see you in the trenches!
Isonzo
BlackMill Games
$29.99
World War One expands to the mountains of the Italian Front – beautiful but deadly in equal measure. Inspired by the two year struggle for control of the Isonzo river valley and the Alps during World War One, Isonzo elevates the WW1 Games Series, figuratively and literally.
From the makers of Verdun and Tannenberg…
Take part in historical offensives from the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo to the Strafexpedition. Reflecting the course of the actual battles, as the attackers advance the fighting will shift through vastly different landscapes within a single offensive: from hillside fortresses to mountain trenches and fierce urban combat on city streets. Everything is recreated based on research and field trips, from sound effects and uniforms down to the houses, vineyards and trenches you’ll be fighting over.
The new Offensive game mode puts you right in the middle of key historical offensives on the Italian Front. Lead the charge across stunning Italian landscapes as you choose your path to victory – cut paths through barbed wire, flank your enemies by following mountain trails, or man a mortar to blast a way through. Shape a dynamic battlefield by laying sandbags and wire, placing ammo crates, deploying trench periscopes or sniper shields, and more.
Call in support with a unique historically accurate flare system: flare guns can mark targets for artillery or biplane flybys, or different colored flares can be used to guide your team. Once the big guns have softened up the enemy, finish the job at close quarters with an Arditi dagger or mountaineer’s pickaxe. Man heavy machine guns, mortars and even mountain guns for more direct fire support.
Choose from six classes based on historical combat roles and build your loadout from a selection of weapons, equipment and perks linked to that class, giving flexibility and variety while staying grounded in what real soldiers might have carried. You’ll be operating wire cutters, bandaging yourself and wounded teammates, and blowing the whistle to start an assault. One shot can kill and even lighter injuries can lead to quickly bleeding out.
Being an effective soldier in Isonzo is not just about being a good marksman. Mastering the terrain is also key – the mountain can be a friend or foe. Learn how to navigate well to maintain cover and surprise your enemies or support your allies.
Finally… watch out for the dreaded poison gas. You’ve never experienced WW1 action quite like this!
Isonzo key features include:
• MOUNTAIN WARFARE: Assaulting mountain fortifications, battling through ruined towns, and fording rivers are just a few of the challenges you’ll face as you fight your way through numerous enemy positions
• TACTICAL MULTIPLAYER FPS: Choose your role and loadout carefully to survive this high altitude combat – play a sniper to pick off the enemy engineers before they can cut your wire, use rifle grenades to clear enemy machine guns, and much more
• WORLD WAR ONE GAMEPLAY: Historical Offensive game mode based on real battles and focused on the unique challenges of Alpine warfare. Fight with 30+ WW1 weapons, poisonous gas attacks, and intense artillery barrages
• BUILD FOR VICTORY: Place your own wire, sandbags, trench periscopes, and more! Whether you’re digging in or on the attack, shaping the battlefield to your advantage will be key to victory
• FACES OF WAR: Make every class your own by picking from a variety of historically class-appropriate uniforms, accessories and headgear. As a finishing touch, you can even pick your mustache from several famous period-accurate styles!
• AUTHENTIC WW1 ATMOSPHERE: Accuracy in everything from maps and weaponry to music and the uniforms – fight for the Kingdom of Italy, the German Empire or the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy
MORE GAMES IN THE AUTHENTIC WW1 GAME SERIES
Immerse yourself in more WW1 action with our other standalone titles Tannenberg and Verdun. Experience trench warfare on the Western Front in Verdun, or maneuver for control of key sectors in Tannenberg on the Eastern Front. These authentic WW1 shooters let players choose from a range of squads from across the war, as they fight for control of the ever-changing frontlines.
GAMES
Transport Fever 2: Console Edition is Bringing the Full Transport Tycoon Experience to Xbox
Today, we proudly share a sneak peek into the development of Transport Fever 2: Console Edition, and how we managed to bring the full transport tycoon experience to Xbox.
Transport Fever is a very popular and highly rated transportation tycoon franchise on PC. Its latest entry, Transport Fever 2, delivers a level of size and detail never before seen in the genre. The goal of the game is to build a successful transportation company by constructing railroads, streets, water and air lines. Starting in the 19th century, the player connects towns and industries to transport both passengers and cargo. In addition to a customizable free game mode, there is also a fully-fledged campaign mode with challenging missions set in real-world transportation history.
After the huge success of Transport Fever 2 on PC, it was only logical to bring the experience to consoles as well. Not only that, but no efforts were spared to give the console community the full experience that made the game great on PC. In order to achieve this, the engineers at Urban Games had to pull some rabbits out of their engineers’ hats.
Always providing the freshest layer of paint
One of the most cherished features of Transport Fever 2 are its highly detailed vehicles. The game comes with more than 200 lovingly hand-modeled trains, ships, and airplanes, each sporting multiple 4k textures and normal maps.
On PC, it is easily affordable to have all the models and textures in memory whenever needed, as a typical rig has 16 GB of RAM and a GPU with a dedicated extra memory. Consoles, however, are built differently. They have a unified architecture with an overall smaller amount but ultra-fast memory. The key to make it work on consoles is texture streaming, which allows to clear textures of models that are not in view anymore. Moreover, this technology is used in Transport Fever 2 to constantly load textures at the highest affordable resolution to present the stars of the show, like the classic Class A 3/5 steam locomotive, in their best coat of paint at all times.
Keeping the ground like a console pro
A trademark of Transport Fever 2 are its huge maps. During development of the game, it was always paramount to provide a real sense of scale. The engine should allow for maps where a high-speed train, such as the famous Japanese Shinkansen, can really make use of its superior speed. So, a lot of effort was put into designing a highly effective terrain rendering pipeline that can handle maps of more than 120 sq miles of size with a detail resolution of almost 1 yard. Central to this is a dynamic terrain tessellation algorithm on the CPU that, while costing a bit of extra memory, makes sure the engine can render these maps on a wide variety of PCs.
Now, enter the world of consoles with their incredibly well-designed GPUs and graphic APIs. Here, the hardware can be leveraged very well for terrain rendering by making use of the GPU tessellation feature. This feature generates the render mesh for the terrain fully on the graphics card, saving valuable processing time for the complex economy and city growth simulations. While generating more triangles, the hardware approach still costs less memory overall due to its efficiency. So vast maps can be viewed from a bird’s view high up in the sky and seamlessly zoomed in down to individual rocks on a riverbank.
Inspiring the inner architect
Finally, let’s talk about constructions, a central and defining part of the Transport Fever 2 experience. Constructions are large assemblies that consist of dozens of assets, street segments, ground decals and terrain modifications. Think of structures like airports, train stations, docks, highway crossings, and many more. Anything that is needed to build a vast transportation empire.
For a smooth construction experience, it is key that the player really feels that he has precise control over the building placement. On PC, constructions are typically built using the mouse. As the average PC user is very well adjusted to this method of input, it is sufficiently performant to calculate the entire construction each frame and place it under the cursor. However, on consoles, the best way of building constructions is to have them always kept in the center of the screen and move the camera along the map for placement. And moving the camera needs to be as smooth as silk.
So, for the console release of Transport Fever 2, the construction preview pipeline was overhauled. All dynamic calculations are now performed in the background while a static preview of the structure and its underlying ground plan are shown. Not only are constructions now completely stable in terms of FPS, but they also give feedback to the player on what environment features the construction would tear down when built.
Let’s get tycooning on console
We are very excited to bring the Transport Fever franchise to consoles for the first time ever with the release of Transport Fever 2: Console Edition on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One in February 2023, and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we did developing it.
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