J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
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Welcome to GAF's first video game music (VGM) discussion thread! Sometimes I feel that music in video games gets relegated to the sidelines and is not appreciated enough. Despite songs like the Super Mario Bros or the Pac Man theme being very ingrained in Pop Culture, VGM is still not considered "real music" by many. My goal with this thread is to gauge interest on having these kind of discussions on a monthly basis. Maybe featuring the work of a particular artist on a month, or having other gaffers share their experience composing music for games. Let's see how this goes
What is video game music?
Why should I care?
Because despite the hardware limitations in the early days of video gaming, some compositions are so good that they have stood the test of time quite well. Also, good soundtracks can elevate mediocre games into enjoyable experiences or even drag down otherwise good games into the annoying territory. Long-standing video game series like Zelda, Castlevania, and Final Fantasy would probably not be as successful without their renowned OSTs.
Where can I listen to my favorite artists?
Wanna own the music?
Wanna see it live?
Video Games Live: A concert tour led by Tommy Tallarico that melds a symphonic orchestra with video game music. They perform covers from a vast array of games like Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Halo, and others.
The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses: A concert series featuring the music from all games in The Legend of Zelda series. It debuted in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series. Unfortunately, as far as I know they have only performed in North America.
Distant Worlds: A concert series featuring the music from the Final Fantasy series. Performing since 2007, they have performed in many venues around the world.
Documentaries
To kickstart the discussion: maybe show off your collection? Post your favorite track? Critique the excessive use of bullet points in the OP? Anything goes, thanks for reading!
Welcome to GAF's first video game music (VGM) discussion thread! Sometimes I feel that music in video games gets relegated to the sidelines and is not appreciated enough. Despite songs like the Super Mario Bros or the Pac Man theme being very ingrained in Pop Culture, VGM is still not considered "real music" by many. My goal with this thread is to gauge interest on having these kind of discussions on a monthly basis. Maybe featuring the work of a particular artist on a month, or having other gaffers share their experience composing music for games. Let's see how this goes
What is video game music?
Wikipedia said:Video game music is the soundtrack or background music accompanying video games. Originally limited to simple melodies by early sound synthesizer technology, video game music has grown to include the same breadth and complexity associated with television and movie soundtracks. While simple synthesizer pieces are still common, game music now can include full orchestral pieces and licensed popular music.
Why should I care?
Because despite the hardware limitations in the early days of video gaming, some compositions are so good that they have stood the test of time quite well. Also, good soundtracks can elevate mediocre games into enjoyable experiences or even drag down otherwise good games into the annoying territory. Long-standing video game series like Zelda, Castlevania, and Final Fantasy would probably not be as successful without their renowned OSTs.
Where can I listen to my favorite artists?
Wanna own the music?
- Steam Music: Many games on Steam give you the option to buy soundtracks as DLC. Also, while it is still in its infancy, Steam is integrating a music player in its client.
- Game Music Bundle: Similar to humble indie bundles but for indie game music.
- Humble Indie Bundle: Sometimes, bundles come with the games' full soundtracks. On your account page switch to "audio", you might be surprised by the amount of OSTs you may already own, in .FLAC even!
- CD Japan: A good place to import (mostly) Japanese OST releases
- Play-Asia: Similar to CD Japan but I believe you can also buy codes for the JP iTunes and other online stores
- CD Universe: Similar to the previous 2 websites listed above. However, it features more Western OSTs and MP3 downloads.
- Overclocked Records: Publishing label for a bunch of indie soundtracks. OSTs for games like FEZ, Dust, and Bit Trip Runner 2 can be found here.
- Sumthing: Site that sells a bunch of Capcom OSTs as well as works from other bigger Western IPs like Borderlands, or Darksiders.
- iTunes: Probably the biggest hub of VGMs online. Sadly, since it is region-locked the selection available varies a lot from country to country. Publishers like Falcom and EA have most of their catalog in all territories but YMMV.
- Square Enix Music Store: Retail releases of a very small selection of Square Enix games. No, the Nier OST is not available here.
It is available here.
- Capcom Store: As of now, they only offer the OSTs for Mega Mans 1-10 and X-X4, not that I mind. Most of the other OSTs can be found on Sumthin.
- Nintendo: For the time being, the only Nintendo soundtracks easily available are the ones from Pokemon games.
And actually that's only because they were put there by Game Freak.
- Konami: Waiting since 2007. Ok I lie, the Silent Hill OST is up on iTunes but only for US customers though. Akira Yamaoka and Michiru Yamane also joined them on the Canadian trolling by locking the OSTs to SH 2/3/4 and SotN to the US. *shakes fist*
- Atlus: "We're working on it. I think. I hope..."
Wanna see it live?
Video Games Live: A concert tour led by Tommy Tallarico that melds a symphonic orchestra with video game music. They perform covers from a vast array of games like Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Halo, and others.
The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses: A concert series featuring the music from all games in The Legend of Zelda series. It debuted in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series. Unfortunately, as far as I know they have only performed in North America.
Distant Worlds: A concert series featuring the music from the Final Fantasy series. Performing since 2007, they have performed in many venues around the world.
Documentaries
- Diggin' in the carts: A documentary series about Japanese video game music. There are six episodes with interviews and sick remixes of classic tracks.
- Beep: A recently-funded kickstarter that strives to be the most comprehensive VGM documentary yet. Keep your eyes open for this one.
- VGMdb: The best VGM database around. You can even build your collection here and buy/sell discs in their marketplace. It also catalogs a lot of music from anime series.
- Game Music Online: Reviews and news about VGM.
- Video Game Music Archive: Archive full of sound clips for older games.
- Wikipedia's list of video game musicians: Very extensive list of all prominent video game musicians.
- Reddit's r/gamemusic: A video game subreddit, self explanatory.
- [thread=884471]Diggin' in the carts "OT"[/thread]
- [thread=447847]HG101's Top 1000 VGM Results[/thread]
- [thread=783846]Terrible, awful video game music.[/thread]
- [thread=531507]Time signatures in video game music[/thread]
- [thread=785412]Best Boss Music[/thread]
- [thread=795221]Castlevania Music Discussion[/thread]
To kickstart the discussion: maybe show off your collection? Post your favorite track? Critique the excessive use of bullet points in the OP? Anything goes, thanks for reading!