Why?

There are many reasons, but the primary reason is because I just don’t have the time and interest I once had. I have two young kids and a demanding job and they keep me very occupied these days.

What will be changing?

Site redesign – I’m working on a redesign that will dramatically simplify the site. No more slow/weighty CMS systems with the cumbersome (and often unreliable) arrangement download system. We’re going back to straight HTML and a simple static site. It will feature our full arrangement archive (with all links checked and verified) and little else. We will still be accepting new arrangements and encourage musicians to keep submitting.

Store closing – I’m shutting down our store effective today. All current orders will have been fulfilled but we aren’t accepting any new orders. We do still have some inventory that we are selling at heavy discounts. We’re relying on Amazon.com to fulfill the rest of our orders, so if you want to see what we have, check out our Amazon store.

As for a timeline, I hesitate to give one because it depends on when I have the time to do it. I would expect to see the new design in place in 1-2 months. Thank you for your continued support! Feel free to contact us with any questions.

Square Enix’s website for the release has confirmed a number of the tracks to appear on the album. “Opening ~ Bombing Mission”, “Interrupted by Fireworks” and “Cosmo Canyon” from Final Fantasy VII, as well as “Ami”, “Force Your Way”, “Liberi Fatali” and “The Man with the Machine Gun” from Final fantasy VIII, and “Melodies of Life”, “Rose of May” and “You’re Not Alone” from Final Fantasy IX.

The website is currently streaming a portion of “Opening ~ Bombing Mission”, which is a fine example of how the arrangement sounds. If you want the ultimate experience however, you will have to head to the Yomiuri Otemachi Hall in Tokyo, Japan, where the tracks will come to life via concert format. The cost for such an experience (not including flights or anything else associated with travel) is roughly double the price of the album (so around 6,000 yen or $60 USD).

Following the same concept employed by Shimomura’s previous, Drammatica, Memória delves into the musical depths that has long created admiration and respect for Shimomura, as well as enjoyment and inspiration to fans. The track listings will be recognizable to most, with selections ranging from Super Mario RPG, the Mana series and of course, Kingdom Hearts.

The official Square Enix Memória site (In Japanese, as per usual) will get you pricing details (3,000 yen or around $29 USD) to go with the release date, as well as a single track streaming on demand to give a taste of the quality in store. Judging from the response and critical acclaim Drammatica received, it would be fair to say anyone who buys this would be in for a treat.

The three albums pay homage to the original SNES score composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu. Samples of the 1st and 2nd albums are currently available to stream via SoundCloud.

More of Robinson’s Synthetic Orchestra creations and covers can be found here, with an extensive catalog of popular video game music also available to stream via SoundCloud.

Both soundtracks have gone on sale as of the 25th December 2013, and are available from the Japanese Amazon and the Square-Enix e-Store for the tidy sum of ¥5,000.

Aside from the individual releases of both, a collectors edition has also been announced with pre-orders available to be made now, here. 18th March 2014 is the slated release date for those lucky enough to pre-order, and will feature an epic 40-page hardcover art book, complete with sketches, concept art and characters alongside five spectacular lithographs. And as if this is not enough, 6-hours of the aforementioned music will accompany this on blu-ray. US$79.99 will see this handy collectible in your back pocket come March 2014.

For those who are not yet ready to say good-bye, let this 90-second tearjerker assist you…