E3 has come and gone once more, and in its wake comes the promise of innovation and new gameplay experiences. But what did the Expo have to offer in terms of music? Well, quite a bit, actually. Read on for details on some of my favorite musical highlights from the show floor.


Konami's announcement of a new Dance Dance Revolution title for the Wii promises to reboot the franchise after a long period of disinterest and stagnation. Will waggle and balance boards be enough? Jayson Napolitano over at OSV has an interview with Bemani's Naoki Maeda on how he and the rest of Konami plan on reviving DDR with their latest title. OSV also spoke to Tomm Huelett, producer of the upcoming Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and managed to get some details on the game's soundtrack. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: CONFIRMED!


Square-Enix's announcement of their next MMO, Final Fantasy XIV, brought with it a noticeable lack of details, despite having a press conference about it. However, it was revealed that Nobuo Uematsu will be returning as the game's sole music composer. We'll have to wait and see just how 'sole' he'll actually be, as Square has a habit of announcing this for nearly every Final Fantasy title, then distributing the music credits amongst various members of their sound team. Either way, it's comforting to know that even though Square-Enix has once again ostracized 75% of their fanbase by choosing to produce a MMO, we're at least guaranteed a halfway decent OST.


Summon monster motorcycles notwithstanding, the music from Final Fantasy XIII is continuing to sound more and more stupendous every time I hear it. The game's lead composer, Masashi Hamauzu has worked on several notable game soundtracks in the past such as SaGa Frontier 2, Final Fantasy X, Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon and Unlimited SaGa (which, despite being a rubbish game, had great music). I'm really looking forward to hearing more of Hamauzu's work when the game launches next year.


Next up, there's this. If you have not seen this video, please stop reading this article and watch it right now. Without hyperbole, I can safely say that this is the best intro for a music game I've ever seen. The Beatles: Rock Band was definitely a show-stealer for Microsoft, who began their media briefing on Monday with this incredible animated montage of Beatles history. MS followed up with a demonstration of the game's three-part harmony vocal support, which promises to be an incredible feature if done right. That being said, I've never really been a fan of musical plastic band games, but after watching the presentation, this title has rocketed to the top rungs of my 'DO WANT' list. And by the way, did anyone else find Ringo and Paul's speech hilarious? Seeing two living legends saunter onto the stage and half-mockingly address a giant crowd of games journalists was one of my favorite moments among all three major press events.


E3 '09 also brought to light both Scratch: Ultimate DJ and DJ Hero, neither of which I'm particularly thrilled about. Nevertheless, both titles are interesting for different reasons: DJ Hero shows some promise in the fact that it will feature original mixes and co-op support with the Guitar Hero controller. So rather than merely hitting buttons in time with your favorite jams, it looks like you'll be able to really mix it up, get down to your undies and do your best Girl Talk impression from the comfort of your own living room. Scratch: Ultimate DJ, on the other hand seems to promise an experience more in line with prior arcade rhythm games like Beatmania and Pop'n'Music. One thing Scratch seems to have going is it's DJ controller -- The deck looks incredibly slick, and it's easy to see that Numark went the extra mile by using real materials to replicate the feel of actual DJ equipment. I'm looking forward to trying out both.

All in all, there's plenty of exciting things to look forward to in game music (and music games) this year. What were your favorite music moments from this year's E3?