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Okay, let's chat about the fun games of the day.

I'll open with Rags to Riches, Ultimate Wizard, and a Pacman clone PacLips.

Kickstart II. The amount of time I wasted on that motorcycle trail like game was insane.

"Save New York"? The one where you flew planes to protect the city and also could land and go below ground. It was a coop game where you were supposed to protect against invaders, but it always turned into a free for all. We also turned on the buildings and tried to flatten the city without getting killed by the UFOs.

Fun times indeed. My whole computer experience started with the C64 and I still listen to SID tunes at work when I reaaaally need to get into a programming mode. I also have a ton of SID remixes.

Is http://remix.kwed.org/ still around? They had the most awesome remixes of SID tunes.

Ah, nothing beats nostalgia with some background tunes of International Karate or Last Ninja. Or Commando... Hmm, I'm off to listen to some tunes again :)

I'm subscribed. When I subscribed, I had about 3.7k files < 256kbps (I remember the numbers because looked to see if it was worth it). After the matching, I now have ~ 1k files at < 256kbps. Of those, most are non-commercial tracks that have never appeared in any other form (hello http://remix.kwed.org) - I download their quarterly playlists.

So overall, a good job and I'm satisfied it saved me a ton of time upgrading my own rips. However that's the good - time for the bad.

Artwork. Artwork has been a mess. When I initially matched, I noticed a lot of my tracks had poor quality artwork (not due to match, they always had them). I went through and fixed them all - a few moments later, Match came back and blatted everything - right back to poor quality artwork again. Making it accept the newer high quality has been very hit and miss, usually involving deleting the track frmo my library and Match then re-importing - even then it doesn't always work.

That's artwork everywhere. Now to specific problems with the iPhone. I turned off Match due to a bad wi-fi area I was in - I had a connection, but couldn't get anywhere. As soon as I turned Match off, all artwork was wiped from my phone. Turning Match back on again appears to have randomly reinstated some artwork and not others.

Sorting. I had some hassle again and turned Match off on the iPhone. I then put it back on again, and suddenly the sort order of my artists was massively out - I have artists starting with K appearing under the 'I' section. It's not random, the artists are actually sorted in alphabetic order, however if you use your thumb to scroll down directly to letter 'M', for example, the first artist listed is James Newton Howard. Hmm....

The other thing is that I'm not sure I'll stay subscribed next year. As a labour-saving initial hit, the price was worth it for me. Now my files are matched anyway, I'm not sure it's worth it for me any more -I'm just as happy with the wireless syncing.

Cheers,
Ian

...and for those of us that listen to 8-bit/chiptune revival music, there's always Press Play On Tape and Monkey Island on real instruments!

For much more retro game music remixes head over to RKO.

What about Star Raiders or Ball Blazer? Those were lots of fun!

The second of which has a cool Beastie Boys remix done to it's theme music.

The Human Race
Comic Bakery
Thrust
Max Headroom
Warhawk
Mancopter
M.U.L.E.
How to be a Complete Bastard
Commando
Alien
Spy vs. Spy
Ballblazer
Master of the Lamps
Uridium

There are some great C64 remixes at http://remix.kwed.org/.

A bit more recently, I really love Dean Evans' soundtrack from the game Silver (1999), and The Resident Evil 2 soundtrack. The latter is very haunting, great mood music!

I've played the games again sometimes with Vice. But its the music that I still love. Reyn Ouwehand (who rocks) just released this video of him jammin out to Green Beret. I guess that was an arcade game too though. Still, some of the remixes are pretty good.

I tried to make one a few years back. Not quite good enough though.

I always wished that someone would do a good remake of the game Below the Root.

http://remix.kwed.org/

Is great source for a lot of nice remixes of old C= 64 games.

• Slayradio: http://www.slayradio.org/, if you want to listen to random tracks
• Kwed: http://remix.kwed.org/, if you need to download something (original SIDs and MP3-remixes available!)

Several bands ( http://www.pressplayontape.com/ (C64 Rock), http://www.minibosses/, http://www.neskimos.com/) play live in front of large audiences some of which are your regular concert crowd. And they seem to enjoy it very much (the bands too :)

If you think the music of the Commodore 64 was lame you haven't heard it. Some of its tunes are fantastic masterpieces. Get a couple of interpretations at http://remix.kwed.org/ and have a listen! Few of the renditions are utter crap while most of them are really well (select those rated best).

Don't forget cool sites as http://remix.kwed.org/ and groups like Press Play On Tape http://www.pressplayontape.com/ and Visa Röster http://livet.se/visa

Soule has also done the music for Guild Wars, which I thoroughly enjoy. You can only get the soundtrack with the collector's edition though... On a side note, I don't know what's up with "real band" music in video games. I rather enjoy the opposite: bands that play in the style of games. That's why I like c64 stuff and think that PPOT is awesome. (They play music on game controllers?!)

I would expect it to sound similar to the vocal track on this piece. Warning: Mild adult innuendo toward the end of the song. But what the heck.... Crank it up at the office!!!

People are still creating wonderful SID music on C64 machines. http://remix.kwed.org/

The ATARI 400/800/800XL etc line of home computers had a loyal following, but the C64 was widely used for games, word processing, business, and hobby programming.

I remembered how much fun the Commodore 64 was, back in the day, so I bought some on eBay.

And after playing with them for a while, they are still fun after all these years, and they work well, too.

There is still a communiy for C64 music and games

http://remix.kwed.org/

http://www.slayradio.org/

http://www.remix64.com/

there is even a pod cast http://www.slayradio.org/podcast/

Machinae Supremacy rock! Check out their guitar version of the Giana Sisters theme!

You can find & download this and C64 game song remixes from a lot of other artists at remix.kwed.org, the definitive guide to C63 remixes. There's also a webradio at www.slayradio.org!

Or, my personal favorite: 8-Bit Weapon - MULE (Bitblaster mix)

VGMix

Overclocked Remix

RKO

I can only give you two great URLS:
http://remix.kwed.org/ for c64 remixes and the homepage of a SID-metal band: www.machinaesupremacy.com. You can find there free great songs to download!

Some interesting Commodore 64 music links:-
The HVSID Collection - Which is the main site for the collection of thousands upon thousands of Commodore 64 sid files.
Remix.kwed.org Remixes of Commodore 64 tunes with real and modern synthesized instruments.

(Don't hammer their servers!)

I'm off to play "Lazy Jones" (aka ZombieNation)

The SID chip was a 3 voice electronic synthesizer. Emulators have never quite matched the sound, and you can even purchase a hardware PCI card (Hard SID) if you are so hardcore you need that you need the original sound. In fact, Denver band Mr. Pacman uses a Commodore 64 to get the true '80s sound they need.
There are SID emulators as well as SID collections such as The High Voltage SID Collection.
Remixes of old video game music is also all over the web. Check out remix.kwed.org for excellent remixes. The ones by Perhaps a Doobie and particularly amusing. Check out the Monty on the Run Hi-Score theme and the 1942 High-Score theme. Classic stuff.

No Suicide Express? No Mega Apocalypse? Monty On The Run? Delta? Rambo? Lightforce? Thing On A Spring? The Ocean loaders?

Guess I'll just have to make do with the remixes

Here they are... boink-a-dink-a-ish enough? ;)

If you happen to be a C= fan, then check out http://remix.kwed.org/ for some great stuff.
There's also a webradio of this stuff: Slay Radio

For grins and giggles, go download "The Last Ninja" and throw it into your c64 emulator of choice (Vice).

I hate the thought that Last Ninja II may already be released when the download over my 150 baud line emulator finishes...

The soundtrack on that is absoluetly amazing, and it was made.. what, almost 16 years ago? One of the best gaming soundtracks ever.

Yeah - enjoy it in new glory. (But please don't torture the little server to much.)

The idea is not that games should create new forms of music,
the idea is that music can change a game from being 7 points rated
up to 8 points.

Play any game, especially like Silent Hill or Doom3, and you will
not be able to say that what you hear does not add to the tension
in the game.

Music should be same. Music should add to the game.

Old Commodore 64 games had powerfull music. It played while game
was loading, it was not ambient, it carried a tune which you could
whistle. Can you whistle to me the Doom3 tune? its too ambient
and its too bland. Can you whistle to me Duke Nukem 3d tune? YUP!

Another point, a remarkable game that broke grounds with music
was Jedi Knight (not sure if 1 or 2), depending on whats happening
(or about to) the music tone would change from being peacefull
minuet to a violent orchestral explosions.

Here is another thing, visit remix.overclocked.org
or vgmix.com and count remixes, both
sites sport slightly more than 1000 remixes for ALL platforms
from handhelds, through consoles, to pc based games. Then visit
a site like remix.kwed.org and you
will see 1000 remixes of c64 games alone.

That should tell you how memorable c64 music is, and how little
people recall and liked music from other system.

music should be memorable
music should add to the game
music should not be treated as the background ambient noise

--
/apz, I want music I can whistle while in the bus

C64 remixes. Some seriously good stuff in there, but you might have to wade through a lot of so-so or goofy stuff. Lots of serious effort out there though.

Some random starting points, helps to have played the actual games I guess.

Slumgud - Wizball
The Dead Guys - Last Ninja / Paperboy
DHS of TSW - Total Epygt
N-Joy of The Soundwavers - Thundercats
Puffy64 - Way of the exploding fist
Instant Remedy - Commando
DjLizard - International Karate / Temple of Apshai Trilogy
Slow Poison - Wizball / Parallax Walkabout
FTC - Parallax subtune 4
Lagerfeldt - Robocop
THC Flatline - Short Circuit / SpellBound

If SID nostalgia is your thing, also check out C64 Audio, a group (and sometimes consortium) of musicians (often the original composers/performers) that specialize in new arrangements of the classic C64 themes. I have bought several of their CDs, and the ordering process is very international-friendly (no VAT outside of the EU). Of special interest to me were the Forbidden Forest and Trap. Original material all the time is on C64 Remixes, including SID versions if you have an emulator.

Download the remix here

But this has rotating screens: Boulder Dash EX.

And there is a remix-parody of the original Boulder Dash Tune.

I feel so lame! I haven't played the Lens-Flared version of Boulderdash :(... I'm going to pour hot grits in my pants just to repent from my sins :(

I am really sad now...

1) The game music often comes with the game. Sometimes it's in some obscure file format, but these days many games (especially the moddable ones) have music in some standard format (many use MP3 - well, Operation Flashpoint used Ogg Vorbis...) Back in the day, many CD-ROM games also had soundtrack on the CD as redbook tracks. There's no point in selling soundtrack - you can get it from the game itself.

2) Even if games don't have rippable files, they often have "music test" mode. (Goes especially well for older console games etc).

3) If everything else fails and the music is reasonable excellent, there are a lot of folks who remaster or remix the music. Most of my Ultima stuff is in form of MIDI files sequenced by the fans. There's also sites like Overclocked Remix and RKO that have excellent, often delightfully creative remixes.

And I really don't think the game music soundtrack CDs would actually benefit anyone. In my opinion, the games these days are already the Ultimate Music Distribution Channel. I'm a game music fan and I prefer to get the music from the very source itself. I believe the separate soundtracks are just the kind of rubbish that can be expected from these people that Slashbots like to call "representatives of old-fashioned, outdated, dying music distribution models". I personally demand better game music, and I want it to come with the games themselves, or at least available without extra charges!

This has lots of c64 remixes, including some of PPOT's live shows.

Try here for some awesome C64 remixes. (I personally recommend the prog-rock version of Lightforce, the 'Circles' remix of R-Type and the orchestral version of Commando, but there are hundreds of others!)

Archon (midi)

Archon II (mp3)

If you loved the original, you should enjoy the jungle aerobics remix as well. RKO has a huge selection of different remixes of nostalgic tunes. I just had to put the aforementioned remix on...

For those in a hurry: this is the page you want to see. Get the remix from the page - I'm not going to put a direct link to the MP3 file on /.

If you loved the original, you should enjoy the jungle aerobics remix as well. RKO has a huge selection of different remixes of nostalgic tunes. I just had to put the aforementioned remix on...

For those in a hurry: this is the page you want to see. Get the remix from the page - I'm not going to put a direct link to the MP3 file on /.

What with my yodelling CDs, Ivan Rebroff albums (over 65 years old and still touring!) and Ziesjoemsongs (even Dutch people can't understand them :-) and C64 remix tracks I must be so elite that I've come out the other side :-)

Except that I listen to Kylie too...

More or less same here. The problem is, they don't sell stuff that interests me, or make it way overpriced. Rather than spending money on CDs, I buy DVDs (which are almost the same price and have more bang per euro), and I'm happily addicted to sites like RKO that have everything I've ever dreamed of, free and legit... =)

I wasn't able to find the orignial theme, but I was able to find a cool remix

Acapella version of MULE theme

Almost original version of MULE theme

On the 8th day, God made the SID and rested

Well, this is what you would've seen if you were one of the first 10 people to click the link... poor lil' webserver...

Real-time streaming audio from the C64

This C64 server is not only running a web server, but is also running
a very simplistic RTSP/RTP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol/Real-Time
Protocol) server that is compatible with RealPlayer
version 8. This makes it possible to send real-time streaming audio
over the Internet directly from the Commodore 64.


The cassette port on the C64 is capable of sampling 1-bit samples at a
maximum rate of approximately 8000 Hz. We are sampling 1-bit audio
from the cassette player and sending it out over the Internet using
the TFE Ethernet cartridge. To reduce the load on the C64, we only
allow one listener to listen at a time and only for about 20 seconds.

Listen

In order to listen, you'll need to have the free RealPlayer 8 Basic (click on the "RealPlayer 8
Basic" link at the bottom left of the page). While the streaming audio
server might work with other players, we haven't tested it with
anything but RealPlayer 8 Basic.


When RealPlayer is installed, click here. If
RealPlayer says that it is experiencing network problems, this is
because someone else is already listening. Beware! It sounds
terrible.

Playlist

We are playing remixes of famous C64 SID music taken from the
faboulous C64 mp3 remix site remix.kwed.org. Because of the bad sound quality of
the real-time audio stream, it is impossible to tell which tunes we are
playing.

Check out PRESS PLAY ON TAPE. They've released a CD with various C64 covers (Commando, Ghosts'n Goblins, Monty on the Run, etc.), and have a version of Out Run available for download at remix.kwed.org.
This isn't a series of techno-rave-remixes - this is rock music!

For more great game choon remixes, although from the world of Commodore 64, check out these two commonly known great sites:

http://Remix.Kwed.Org

http://www.c64audio.com

Also, quite recently I happened to hear probably the best C64 game remix ever. It's from the game "The Great Gianna Sisters", by a band Machinae Supremacy. Here's the direct link to the MP3 file at their site, and here's another for a mirror at MP3.com. Enjoy! (And may the Gaia forgive me for starting a /. flood on the band's page.. =))

• Videogame Music Archive (mostly MIDI)
• The Best Game Music in the World... EVER (slightly down but loads of files still accessible, mostly Amiga stuff).
• Kohina - old school game and demo music - streaming classic game music.
• C64audio.com - insane amounts of C64 game remixes.
• Remix.Kwed.Org - The ultimate guide to C64 remixes

Okay, so I read a "Mining On The Moon" headline and immediately, the C64 M.U.L.E. theme starts playing in my head. Just in case you're hearing the marching M.U.L.E. yourself... Here is one authentic-sounding remix, in its all its SID glory. (I'd mirror that link if I could -- sorry.)