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Fans love the epic, emotionally charged music from The Legend of Zelda role-playing franchise. I recently chatted with Jason Michael Paul, creator of The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses live-concert series, to ask him what makes Zelda's music so special, what his dream project would be, and what the future might hold for video game music concerts.

Louis Garcia: Why do a show focused on Zelda?

Jason Michael Paul: I just think that with a 25, now 26-year, history, Zelda is one of the most [storied] franchises. We saw the success of those concerts [Paul previously created Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy and Play! A Video Game Symphony], and it was kind of [a] necessity that we do a concert to continue on. It’s more or less a natural progression. There’s only two franchises worthy of getting their own concerts: Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda.

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Recently on Bitmob, the integrity of games journalism has come into question. I found this amusing because, frankly, there’s no such thing. Now, who am I to talk about this subject? Well, I’m a journalist in Canada. I’ve covered elections, city council, tragedies, triumphs, and sports games.

I’ve also written reviews on my own time and hosted a current affairs web series. So I have some knowledge and experience to back up my claims.

There’s journalism and video games, but the two don’t go hand in hand in the way some may think. These “games journalists” are actually reviewers, commentators, columnists, and (at the end of the day) entertainers. 

I don’t think anyone confuses Daily Show host Jon Stewart for a journalist.

Just to be clear, reviewing a game isn’t journalism. That’s an opinion. Being critical is fine, but it isn’t what makes you a journalist.

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I mostly remember Descent for making me sick, but a lot of fans look back fondly on the PC shooter series. We havn't seen a new release in the franchise since 1999's Descent 3, but one enthusiast, going by Mad Max, is trying to re-create the original inside the modern Unreal Engine 3, which powers games like Gears of War and Infinity Blade.

The video after the jump shows off his work, which is enough to make any lover of the classic series yearn for a playable version. You can find out more about Mad Max's project at his website.

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Dennaton Games' grimy, mysterious murder fest easily has the best soundtrack I’ve heard all year. A lot of the indie rock and hip hop jams in Hotline Miami are ones I'd listen to normally. But in the context of this hyperviolent PC title, these songs do something special: They help to flesh out the the minimal storyline with emotion. 

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I’m going to be straight with you all about this: I’m very much a PC gamer at heart. Consoles provide me with a more affordable way to game at a decent level, but it’s PC gaming that I love.

I grew up in the 1990s when gaming was really finding its feet. The homebrew programming scene on the Apple II and early x86 machines was where I had my first experiences. Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, The Secret Of Monkey Island, and Wing Commander were the whole world of gaming for me.

It’s not just the games, though. That spirit of experimentation, openness, and determination defined the industry we see today and fuels the amazing modding and indie development scenes on the PC that you just cannot find on a home console.

Where else can one man make a zombie mode for his favorite first-person shooter and have it played by over a million people? You certainly won’t find that on the Xbox or the PS3 because Microsoft and Sony simply won’t allow it.

It is the dawn of a new age for Microsoft. No longer the dominant tech company in the world, it has been superseded by the slick, relatively closed, and ruthlessly proprietary Apple. Microsoft’s attempts at control over Xbox Live have left indie developers frustrated and forced it’s ability to bring unique titles to Xbox Live Arcade fall behind that of the PlayStation Network and Steam.

With Windows 8, it is attempting to impose the same kind of control that Apple has. Unfortunately, things are not looking good.

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I played Metro 2033 to completion for the first time more than a year ago. It had been on my radar (and my Steam list) for quite some time, and I finally got around to actually playing it. I’d heard so many great things and was very excited to play.

It didn’t quite grab me in the way I wanted. The voice acting was laughably bad in spots. Character models have some of the deadest eyes I have ever seen. The shooting was stiff and didn’t give me the control I wanted during intense moments.

By the time I reached the end, I wasn’t having much fun. I even downloaded an FAQ to help me power through the last few levels in peace. Quickly, I moved to the next game, not really thinking about the experience I'd just had. I had more games in my backlog to "slog" through.

Recently, I had an itch to play the game again. Part of me still wanted that experience I was expecting the first time through. I decided to try a few things to hopefully strengthen the game.

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The Games Media Awards held in London last month caused quite a stir when the public found out journalists were tweeting PR-prompted hashtags in return for a chance to win free gear.

The news got out of hand quickly, and video-game journalists and fans are still talking about it. The image above, of journalist Geoff Keighley forcibly surrounded by junk food as part of an interview, became emblematic of the issue (though not Keighley's fault).

Well, Bitmob is all about games writing. It's in our blood, and it's the purpose of our site. So when an issue like this grabs the attention of our community, we want to hear what you have to say.

We've already front-paged a couple of your articles on this topic, and our own Jason Lomberg has shared his opinion as well. But we thought it made sense to round all your thoughts up into one hub. So check out the article summaries below, and see what you think.

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Filmmaker Devin Graham -- whose YouTube channel is worth a browse even if you're not a giant nerd -- has struck again.

You might remember his first real-life Assassin's Creed video from September, and this morning, he released another installment. This one takes place in the woodsy, cliffsy setting of developer Ubisoft's just-released Assassin's Creed III, and it features a flip-happy Assassin taking out a couple of hapless Redcoats.

The video, which you can see after the break, has a little bit of Tag and a lot of Hide and Seek, but its main draw is obviously watching a real dude dressed up as a member of the fictional Assassins flipping over things. Seriously, the number of flips in this video is almost gratuitous, but the thing is so awesome that you probably won't care.

Just try to resist the urge to yell "Parkour!" after every stunt.

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You stand in a pure white landscape with no indication of how you got there. A singular point in the distance tells you where where to go. This is Kairo, the latest game from indie developer Richard Perrin. It starts from nothing with a far-away goal in mind, and that's how Perrin starting working on it, too.

“I didn't think about it as a puzzle game," says Perrin. "It was barely even a game. I just knew I wanted to make something that took advantage of the monolithic scale that games can do easily but rarely approach."

Perrin started with a few images in mind and dove right in, modeling the first building quickly then creating one room at a time.

“I work like this a lot,” says Perrin. “I don't spend a lot of time planning. I just tend to jump in and see where it takes me. I find the feel I want with a game, and getting something running quickly helps me decide how best to explore that feeling. In my mind, it's like when sculptors talk about revealing what's hidden inside the rock. I feel like I'm trying to reveal what the game wants to be."

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Now that we finally have an official release date -- April 26, 2013 -- for Dead Island: Riptide, I can finally begin to worry less about if, or when for that matter, my favorite zombie slasher will return.

According to publisher Deep Silver, Dead Island Riptide adds “additional gameplay mechanics, all-new gorgeous locales to explore, more types of zombies to provide constant threats, an additional character class and the best co-operative zombie action experience in gaming.”

But this is what I want from the upcoming sequel.

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The Matrix has been irrelevant since those horrible sequels ruined the original's goodwill, but I think the cartoonists at HBruna have found a way to bring some excitement back to the series by adding a healthy dose of Minecraft into the mix.

Seriously, this is a very well-made video for such a silly concept. Although it's not too much of a stretch to imagine all of those addicted Minecraft players losing their grip on reality. You can watch it all after the jump.

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Let me guess. You like video games, and you hate your day job?

You’re not alone. I think everyone would rather get paid to play big-time titles all day than do anything else.

A dangerous misconception exists regarding these dream jobs, however. They're not an excuse to play all day. They're work.

And life is about doing something meaningful.

Does that make sense?

Work makes life worthwhile. To throw your body, mind, and soul at a meaningful task is a human being's source of satisfaction.

To be utterly spent, exhausted, and bloodied while knowing that you’ve accomplished something great is the sweetest feeling.

Now let’s examine the dream of being a games journalist.

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