Last month, I finished Portal 2. I agreed with Zero Punctuation's observation about too many of the puzzles between about getting from Point A to Point B, rather than the more obvious puzzle rooms of the original Portal (though the sequel has some of those, to be sure).

But the game is still one of the best of 2011, due not only to its humor but also its soundtrack. Sixty-four different tunes accompany Chell in her journey through the bowels of Aperture Science — and as of today, they're all available as free downloads

The soundtrack includes the closing (not credits) song, "Cara Mia Addio" also known as the turret opera, which employs Ellen McLain (GLaDOS)'s bad high school Italian for its lyrics. Independent artists have recorded an a cappella rendition of the tune that's available on iTunes:

Jonathan Coulton's "Want You Gone" is also part of this free download — but before you hear the song in-game, you have to defeat the final boss. This encounter's own moments of hilarity can't be fully appreciated in the heat of battle, so enjoy this playlist of three YouTube videos that captures the dialogue of the personality spheres:

I may've griped about Portal 2 being an expensive sequel to an affordable game, but the freebies like the soundtrack go a long way toward setting things right.

(Hat tip to Dave McClelland and GermanSeabass)

Educational software is nothing new — the Apple II's success was practically founded on it, courtesy games such as The Oregon Trail. Even more entertainment-oriented programs have their beneficial side effects: an RPG indirectly teaches math (hit points), resource management (inventory), and reading (plot), for example. But whereas games are good at teaching skills, they're rarely as adept at teaching facts, such as history. Which came first, the dropping of the atomic bomb or the assassination of President Kennedy? Why did the United States wage the Vietnam War? What are the differences between Iran and Iraq?

A couple of parodies have recently surfaced that repurpose popular game franchises to teach the history of international politics. Although the Pokémon battle system has been spoofed many times before, this is the first I've seen it used not to mock a particular figure or event but to depict the history of a country's government — in this case, Australia's:

As an American, I understood the format but not the content of these battles. So I forwarded it to three Australian friends, one of whom informed me that "It's a potted history/parody of Australian politicians and political events since about the 1960s." Another posted it to his Facebook wall with the note, "I learnt something about our political history from this. The perfect presentation format for Gen Y."

The second video is a musical piece set to the soundtrack of Tetris and detailing the 20th century history of Russia. I've found it to be quite the earworm, to the point where I can even sing along with some of the lyrics. The first Tetris-inspired stanza of "The Complete History of the Soviet Union" makes it sound like another video game parody, but keep listening and it quickly transitions to a more historical focus.

If you find the video's maniacal protagonist distracting, you can ignore the video and buy the audio single off iTunes.

Tetris is renowned for its geometry and psychology; it's neat to see it being used in the humanities as well. But this history lesson isn't the first time Tetris has been used as the inspiration for a dramatic film. Tetris: The Movie anyone?

(Hat tip to Bob's House of Video Games and Epic Win FTW

Video game soundtracks are more abstract than a game's graphics or challenge and thus are often overlooked, but they are integral to our gaming experiences. Hours or years after we've turned a game off, it's the melodies that stick with us, rising unbidden to our minds and whistling lips. In my case, more often than not, these are Nintendo tunes.

An enterprising remixer has compiled many memorable Nintendo theme songs into a single medley. His instrument of choice is Mario Paint Composer, a freeware utility for Mac and PC that replicates the musical component of the Super Nintendo "game" Mario Paint.

Although this brief selection omits many titles, including any and all published for either the Nintendo 64 or the Nintendo GameCube, it is still a nostalgic performance of the songs that composed our childhoods. The MP3 is also available as a free download.

(Hat tip to Epic Win FTW)

BIT.TRIP BEAT was published as WiiWare this spring, the first of a trilogy of Atari 2600-themed music games that was followed by BIT.TRIP CORE and, on November 23, BIT.TRIP VOID. These games, like Rez, incorporate action and rhythm so that the soundtrack is directly influenced by your performance — but few gamers have played so perfectly as to hear the full, unmodified soundtrack.

That barrier is now removed with publisher Aksys Games' release of the BIT.TRIP BEAT soundtrack. Unlike World of Goo, this album isn't free, but is instead available for purchase and download from online retailers iTunes and CDBaby. On both services, each of the tracks is $0.99, but the complete album's price varies: $9.90 on iTunes, or $5.99 on CDBaby. Additionally, CDBaby comes without digital rights management, or DRM.

Half the tracks are very short, ranging in length from eight seconds to 35. Since both sites charge $0.99 for even these short riffs, it's best to avoid purchasing them separately; get them only with the entire album. If you're buying only the five longer tracks, then you're already spending as much as CDBaby charges for the entire album, so you might as well go whole-hog. That same $6 could also get you any one of the three BIT.TRIP games, though!

If neither of these options appeal to you, the publisher's official blog states that the soundtrack "should be available on Amazon, Rhapsody, eMusic, Napster, and a slew of other music retail services on 10/27/09 as well" — though a quick search on those sites does not yet reveal any hits.

An eleventh track, "Desention", is available for free from the publisher's Web site. And if you want even more music from this genre (known as chiptune), might I recommend 8 Bit Weapon?

Hat tip to Joystiq!

Just a quick heads-up that the soundtrack to World of Goo is now available as a free download. All 27 tracks are included in the 85 megabyte ZIP archive. Album artwork and AAC conversion are optional.

World of Goo is a WiiWare, Mac, and PC game that is one of the best investments I've made for the Wii. It's a puzzle game that uses a point-and-click interface (hence the lack of Xbox and PS3 ports) to build goo-based structures that reach toward a goal. It has a bizarre, Tim Burton-esque sense of humor and a colorful, consistent design. World of Goo is one of the first games I use to introduce virgin Wii players, as I trust it to leave a good impression. The sound effects always garner a chuckle, but the soundtrack itself is also memorable; as composer Kyle Gabler writes, "Influences include Danny Elfman, Vangelis, Bernard Herrmann, Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, and all the big movie guys." So go grab it!

(Hat tip to WiiWare World)

I'm not quite sure why this video is dubbed a Christmas wish, other than the presence of a Santa hat, but the versatility of this single musician performing music from the GameCube game The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is stunning:

I've added the MP3 to my iTunes library so I can be constantly reminded how musically untalented I am.

I've been waiting for Video Games Live to come to Boston ever since their debut in 2005. Last Friday, the wait ended when the touring group that performs live renditions of video game music finally came to its founder's home state.

My two tickets in hand, I showed up at the Wang Center early enough to take in the atmosphere before the doors opened. The first element I encountered was my fellow concert goers. There was no mistaking this crowd: from their apparel to their hair to their glasses, these were gamers. Almost any stereotype you could imagine applied to this throng who diligently played their DS and PSP handhelds while waiting for the doors to open. A few people dressed in costumes, though more often these were children being paraded by their parents.

Once we finally took our seats, we were treated to the music video "Yuri The Only One" (iTunes), which was a great tribute to modern gamers:

The orchestra and choir, both local and conducted by Jack Wall, then took the stage. Each number was accompanied by a montage of scenes projected onto a screen above the orchestra, complementing the game's live rendition with a visual component. I wondered if this perhaps detracted from the experience. I've enjoyed many orchestral performances just by watching the conductor and his players, but here my eyes were naturally drawn upward and away from the source of the music. Of course, if I wanted to focus on the music, I have plenty of video game soundtrack CDs that stand alone just fine.

As it turns out, my previous blog post had presented in order the show's two opening acts: a montage of classic games, followed by a Metal Gear Solid medley. After witnessing the music of God of War, we were introduced to Ken Levine from nearby 2K Games, who briefly discussed the importance of soundtrack to a game such as his BioShock, whose music we then heard. A representative of the Massachusetts governor's office briefly appeared to offer his congratulations and support (and a brief reminiscence of King's Quest III), but otherwise didn't add much to the evening. A 21-year-old gamer was also then ushered onto the stage from the audience to clear a round of Space Invaders on the big screen, with live music from the orchestra. Not only did he fail the challenge, he was nearly booed off the stage before he even began by admitting to having never played the game before. Shouldn't that be a prerequisite for attendance at such a concert?

The next two pieces featured some guest performers. The music of Civilization IV included Ron Reagan, the soloist who sang for the original soundtrack. Next came YouTube phenomenon Martin Leung, aka the Video Game Pianist, who played ten Final Fantasy pieces, demonstrating some brilliant and subtle transitions between tunes from the entire storied series.

VGL's repertoire includes 50 arrangements, but each concert features only 20. Apparently, the pieces can be voted on at their Web site, and more than any other city, Boston had requested Metroid. With a follow-up of Zelda music, this Nintendo fan boy was in seventh heaven; the two pieces together made the perfect conclusion to the first act.

Time between acts was filled with two more video tributes that had apparently been floating around the 'net for a few months without crossing my path. Both Junior Kickstart and My Childhood In Four Minutes had plenty for the "older" crowd to appreciate. Speaking of which, the audience was composed almost entirely of twenty-somethings. A few older folks were there with their kids, though it was hard to tell who had dragged who along.

But it was the oldest gentleman in attendance who opened the second act. Everyone knows and respects Shigeru Miyamoto for inventing Mario and Donkey Kong in the Eighties, and Yuji Naka for Sonic in the Nineties, but Ralph Baer precedes them both by decades. Mr. Baer is often considered the father of the video game industry, because it was his invention, Pong, that Nolan Bushnell popularized in arcades with Atari. Pong was not the first video game — that honor likely belongs to Spacewar! — but without Mr. Baer, the modern landscape of electronic entertainment would be very different indeed. We saw a video of Mr. Baer compete against Bill Harrison in a 1969 match of Pong before both men were reunited on stage. Rather than a rematch, an eight-year-old was invited from the audience to play against Mr. Baer using one of the original Pong machines. It was a close game that eventually went to the younger generation with a score of 5-4.

After that, the second act relied less on guests than the first act had, proceeding to again play from both old and new scores. Kingdom Hearts, Sonic the Hedgehog, World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, Super Mario Bros., and Tetris were the next pieces. Martin Leung returned for the Mario medley, playing a few pieces blindfolded before engaging in more challenging and extremely fast compositions.

The next set relied on an audience member who had won a Guitar Hero contest during intermission. The gamer was challenged to play Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" on stage, with Ron Reagan on vocals and show designer and emcee Tommy Tallarico on bass. This gamer wasn't prepared for the "Hard" setting, though, and insisted it be changed — to "Expert"! He blew away the 200,000-point challenge Tommy had set to him, much to the audience's delight.

Speaking of which, Tommy Tallarico has the ego to be on stage: he loves to perform and be the center of attention whenever possible. And that's not a bad thing, since he is both a talented and prolific performer. He loves his work, his art, and his fans, and was happy to accommodate them all. He stayed on stage to play guitar for most of the next pieces, which were Halo, then two encores: Final Fantasy VII's "One Winged Angel" followed by a Castlevania composition, with Martin Leung on organ.

It was a brilliant evening shared with an enthusiastic crowd that didn't want to see it end. As an old school gamer, I didn't fully appreciate many of the pieces, such as God of War or even Halo, which makes the majority of their first album (iTunes) unappealing. But every piece was professionally done, and the variety of genres, eras, and styles played to everyone.

If I had one valid criticism of the evening, it's that not all the music was live. One of the choir singers told me, "They did have some percussion/rhythm tracks that they played on some pieces. For the choir, we were backed up on most of the pieces by a choir track, although they did mix us into it." Though this mix may've produced a sound more akin to the original soundtrack, I don't think such imitation was wholly necessary; as sites like OCReMix have proven, variations and original arrangements are more than welcome.

Several of the evening's numbers have made their way to YouTube, but it's no substitute for the environment, audience, and sounds of a live performance. Check VGL's their tour dates to find when you'll have an opportunity you won't want to miss.

When Video Games Live debuted in 2005, it was not the first time video game music had been set to a live orchestra; symphonic recordings of Japanese RPGs such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest had been available for more than a decade. But Video Games Live snubbed that reproducible medium in favor of a full sensory performance that has been touring the world for three years, evolving with the industry to commemorate gaming's classics such as The Legend of Zelda and modern hits like Mass Effect.

Knowing me to be both an audiophile and game fanatic, my youngest brother bought us tickets to see Video Games Live at Boston's Orpheum Theater in 2006. For reasons lost to the mists of time, the performance was cancelled. In email exchange I had a year later with Tommy Tallarico, the show's co-creator and executive producer, he said, "Boston is at the top of my list!!  Especially since I grew up in Springfield, Mass!!"

Finally, that promise will be fulfilled this November 21st when Video Games Live comes to the Wang Theatre. If, unlike me, you haven't bought your tickets yet, it must only be out of ignorance. Allow me to edify you with better samples than you'll find on the official VGL Web site. Their trailer has the production team talking about the orchestra, which is incomparable to actually seeing the show itself:

The orchestra is capable of more than just medleys, also performing extensively from individual game soundtracks. Note how this piece incorporates spotlights and actors to recreate the environment in which the music was originally heard, producing a more than aural experience:

If you miss this opportunity, be sure to get tickets for your local venue.