Radio Free Gamer | A Guide to the Video Game Music Scene

[justinj212]

I've started a series of articles entitled "A Guide to the Video Game Music Scene", aimed at introducing readers to some of the facets of the video game music community. Part 1 focuses on original soundtracks, where you can find them, and which ones you should listen to first. I know this information probably won't be anything new for the people on this forum, but if you like it I'd appreciate it if you'd spread it around so that other people can get an introduction into VGM.

I've posted the article on Digg, Reddit, and N4G if you want to upvote it on any of those. Thanks!

[Sbeast]

Great article man. Hopefully this will give some good insight into the vgm scene for those who are new to it. Looking forward to part 2.

[Tex]

The DSP1 Sound Chip Utilized by the Super Nintendo

DSP-1 is not a sound chip. Pretty sure you mean SPC700. Anyway, your article has too much Nintendo/Square and very little from others. There are plenty of great music soundtracks you probably never heard (not only from other systems, but also from the SNES itself). Don't expect to make informative guides without a careful research.

[8bitX]

DSP-1 is not a sound chip. Pretty sure you mean SPC700. Anyway, your article has too much Nintendo/Square and very little from others. There are plenty of great music soundtracks you probably never heard (not only from other systems, but also from the SNES itself). Don't expect to make informative guides without a careful research.

Nintendo & Square were used on purpose since they have some of the biggest and most loyal fanbases.

Keep in mind this is an article written for people who are not immersed in the video game music realm. The people looking for more info on the scene is the audience of this article.

Regarding the SNES sound chip, the chip mentioned in the image caption is actually a sound chip on the SNES. Anomie's S-DSP Doc outlines how sound is made on the SNES.

Source: http://www.romhacking.net/docs/%5B191%5Dapudsp.txt

[Tex]

So it wasn't written for people who are interested in pursuing game music info. It was written just to please the fans. They should realize there's more to vgm than Koji Kondo and Nobuo

The chip mentioned in the image caption is definitely not a sound chip. That is from Pilotwings for stuff like scaling and rotation.

[8bitX]

So it wasn't written for people who are interested in pursuing game music info. It was written just to please the fans. They should realize there's more to vgm than Koji Kondo and Nobuo .

I think the point of the article is something that you are missing. It IS written for people who are interested in pursuing video game music info. Remember they are n00bs who don't know where to go. It's an introduction to the video game music community.....

I guess since the article didn't get into under-rated video game soundtracks just yet then it's worthless. Yes that must be it.

[Tex]

I think the point of the article is something that you are missing.

Not really. The article is incomplete at best. For one, nobody should be going to Zophar's Domain for NES/Genesis music. This place is more complete and accurate for NES osts. There is a 7z file there that has all soundtracks available. And then there is Project 2612 with a larger collection of Genesis material. The guide doesn't tell people where to find C64, Amiga music, et cetera. Yet it clearly knows where others should get SNES soundtracks in a specific website which makes it looks like the article is based on nostalgia rather than actual insight.

[zircon]

Like it or not, most people remember the tunes to, say, Final Fantasy, Donkey Kong Country or Mega Man as opposed to stuff from the Amiga. If you don't believe me, just look at the % of remixes we get from the NES, Genesis and SNES (and specifically, Mega Man 2, Chrono Trigger, FF6...) compared to, say, C64, Jaguar, or whatever. The guide might not be a compendium of video game music knowledge but the way to introduce people to a new hobby or interest isn't to inundate them with information that they would most likely not find relevant or interesting.

[Tex]

It's up to the listener to decide what is interesting or not. If one is new to video game music, there is no reason to jump on the bandwagon. Good music is good music, which disproves that it is nostalgia alone that makes it enjoyable.

[8bitX]

Personally I came to ocremix for Contra, Ice Hockey, Baseball Stars, and many other NES games. That is what got me in the door. From there many sites like this and zophar have expanded my horizons to all other genres.

While it's true that the article is heavy on the SNES, you've gotta think that most people who are just getting into the scene have played it. So it's a really good way to get people in the door to the scene. That is what the article (first part mind you) is all about.

It's a guide to the realm that is video game music. First step is turning the door handle, not YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS UNDER-RATED SOUNDTRACK!!!!

[BardicKnowledge]

While I agree with the idea of not getting too specific in an introductory article, some mention that Sega consoles exist would have been nice, even if you only reference Sonic the Hedgehog and maybe Shining Force as "gateway" games.

Feels Nintendo biased without something else in there.