Kumi Tanioka

Kumi Tanioka (谷岡 久美, Tanioka Kumi, born August 29, 1974) is a Japanese video game music composer and pianist. Born in Hiroshima, Japan, she graduated from Kobe University with a degree in musical performance, and began working as a video game composer in 1998. She joined video game developer and publisher Square that same year, and worked on over 15 games for them before leaving to work as an independent composer in 2010. She is most known for composing for the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series, which she composed for Square Enix. Tanioka has a style of "world music", whereby she combines instruments from different parts of the world into one cohesive sound. She also likes to incorporate piano music into her soundtracks, which she typically performs herself, as she has done as a part of The Star Onions, a musical group focusing on arrangements of Final Fantasy XI music made up of Square Enix composers, as well as on her own at various concerts, such as 2011's Final Fantasy XI-themed VanaCon.

Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy (ファイナルファンタジー, Fainaru Fantajī) is a science fiction and fantasy media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games (RPGs). The eponymous first game in the series, published in 1987, was conceived by Sakaguchi as his last-ditch effort in the game industry; the title was a success and spawned sequels. The video game series has since branched into other genres such as tactical role-playing, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing, racing, third-person shooter, fighting, rhythm and anime.

Although most Final Fantasy installments are stand-alone stories with different settings and main characters, they feature identical elements that define the franchise. Recurring elements include plot themes, character names, and game mechanics. Plots center on a group of heroes battling a great evil while exploring the characters' internal struggles and relationships. Character names are frequently derived from the history, languages, pop culture, and mythologies of cultures worldwide.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (ファイナルファンタジー クリスタルクロニクル, Fainaru Fantajī Kurisutaru Kuronikuru) is a 2003 action role-playing game for the Nintendo GameCube. It was published by Nintendo and developed by The Game Designers Studio, a shell corporation for Square Enix's Product Development Division-2. A spin-off of the Final Fantasy series, the game spawned a metaseries of the same name. It was released in Japan on August 8, 2003; in North America on February 9, 2004, and in Europe and Australia on March 12, 2004.

Many new gameplay elements were included in this game, such as real-time fighting and GameCube-Game Boy Advance compatibility; it was the first role-playing video game to incorporate the latter. Its music was composed by Kumi Tanioka. It received positive reviews, many of which described the graphics as beautiful and the multiplayer design as innovative. Five further Crystal Chronicles games have been released (chronologically, two sequels, one distant prequel, and two more); one for the Wii has been released, as well as two for the WiiWare download service; My Life as a King and My Life as a Darklord.

Final Fantasy XI

Final Fantasy XI (ファイナルファンタジーXI, Fainaru Fantajī Irebun), also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), developed and published by Square (later Square Enix) as part of the Final Fantasy series. Designed and produced by Hiromichi Tanaka, it was released in Japan on May 16, 2002, for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows-based personal computers in November of that year. The game was the first cross-platform MMORPG and the Xbox 360's first MMORPG. All versions of the game require a monthly subscription to play.

The story is set in the fantasy world of Vana'diel, where player-created avatars can both compete and cooperate in a variety of objectives to develop an assortment of jobs, skills, and earn in-game item rewards. Players can undertake an array of quests and progress through the in-game hierarchy and through the major plot of the game. Since its debut in 2002, five expansion packs have been released along with six add-on scenarios. Each expansion pack and add-on brings a new major storyline to the Final Fantasy XI world, along with numerous areas, quests, events and item rewards.

The Limit

The Limit was a 1980s musical group composed of Dutch producers Bernard Oattes and Rob van Schaik. They released a full-length album in 1984, which yielded the hit "Say Yeah". The song peaked at No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart and at No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play chart.

The duo also wrote and produced for other artists as The Limit Productions such as the hit single "Love Take Over" by Five Star.

Discography

Albums

Songs

References