Play it Again, Samus

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Posted by Zonk on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:36AM from the moments-from-my-childhood-in-midi-form dept.

mikey573 writes "Eight years ago yesterday I founded the Videogame Music Archive. In a hostile copyright environment, its nice to see at least one slice of our digital heritage left intact." Hey, it's not the Minibosses, but the Wizards and Warriors theme is still excellent.

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You mentioned them in the post... by Relic+of+the+Future · 2004-12-20 03:42 · Score: 3, Informative

...but didn't give them the linkage? The minibosses homepage.

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1. Re:You mentioned them in the post... by Mattcelt · 2004-12-20 04:19 · Score: 1
  
  Do videogame soundtracks count? Because the Cold Storage soundtrack for WipeoutXL for the PC was awesome (and is available in its entirety in 192kbit mp3 files on their website).
First Color Scheme Complaint by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-20 03:46 · Score: -1, Flamebait

PLEASE HIRE A FUCKING WEB DESIGNER
maybe one of those dreamweaver authors
1. Re:First Color Scheme Complaint by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-20 03:54 · Score: 0
  
  The people who wrote dreamweaver should know something about web design.
2. Re:First Color Scheme Complaint by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-20 06:14 · Score: 0
  
  I concur... or at least employ someone who has a slight idea of what to do with database coding. The archives are ass-slow, and there aren't enough search options. Jesus. If you're going to host thousands of files, at least make it easy to search through them.
Offsite by dleifelohcs · 2004-12-20 03:49 · Score: 0, Offtopic

YOUR site, and you don't even know about YOUR offsite linking policy?

COME ON!
1. Re:Offsite by The+Other+White+Boy · 2004-12-20 04:00 · Score: 1
  
  zonk added the link to the midi, not the submitter. the submission ends with the second quotation mark.
2. Re:Offsite by dleifelohcs · 2004-12-20 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  bah, I see.
  
  Well, then, Zonk... you're next!
OC Remix! by Schezar · 2004-12-20 03:56 · Score: 4, Informative

How can you forget to mention OC Remixes?

It's a massive, massive, ever-growing collection of remixes of classic video game music. Most of it is very good.

Even better, they have torrents of the entire library available for you compulsive music collectors out there. (Not entirely for altruistic reasons, it just saves them bandwidth).

I'll warn you, however, that there are about, say, infinity remixes of that song from Mega Man II. You know the one...

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1. Re:OC Remix! by david.given · 2004-12-20 04:21 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  How can you forget to mention OC Remixes?
  ...which, of course, goes hand-in-hand with Ormgas streaming radio: all remixes, all the time, and most of it is damned good. (I recently put together a FF remix album for a friend, with four McVaffe piano tracks on it: live recordings. The guy is seriously talented.)
  Ormgas is ogg powered, too. Which is nice.
  I'll warn you, however, that there are about, say, infinity remixes of that song from Mega Man II. You know the one...
  I was surprised to find that there are only eight Wizards & Warriors remixes.
2. Re:OC Remix! by Rysc · 2004-12-23 11:30 · Score: 1
  
  Mad props to McVaffe! You know he's three people on OCRemix, right?
  
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Oh, man... by wizbit · 2004-12-20 04:04 · Score: 1

VGM was my first high-bandwidth addiction, seeking out the underground sites with mp3 rips from the Japanese OSV soundtracks and such and running up the bill on our school's T1's.

I miss the truly creative experience of the older games; FF2 (US) had some wonderful music for what was essentially an Apple IIGS and a television. FF7 was pretty decent but even it didn't use the full capabilities of the PSX - although Tactics did and it was awesome. I still listen to the soundtracks every so often, but newer games don't really pay much attention to the added benefit a rich score can give a fantasy/RPG game - or, at least, they don't really push the limits of the sound hardware in the newer consoles. Too bad.
1. Re:Oh, man... by Audigy · 2004-12-20 05:59 · Score: 1
  
  Hehe, I bet you remember RPGStuff, don't you? That was my site. These days, with BitTorrent making sharing so easy, leech sites like that really don't need to exist. It's cool to reminisce, though.
  
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2. Re:Oh, man... by Audigy · 2004-12-20 06:17 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, FF7 and FFTactics used the same exact sound driver, and they each had only a 512KB instrument sample bank. The technology utilized is exactly the same.
  
  FFTactics just had better samples, and a more talented composer. ;) (Hitoshi Sakimoto beats the pants off Nobuo Uematsu any day)
  
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3. Re:Oh, man... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-20 18:25 · Score: 0
  
  The Apple IIgs had an Ensoniq sound chip that was pretty damn sweet. It was mono, but it was good mono.
  
  The SNES had a custom Sony soundchip. Stereo, and capable of doing some very cool effects. It beat the pants off the IIgs' Ensoniq chip, but it was also around four years newer.
4. Re:Oh, man... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-23 11:33 · Score: 0
  
  (Hitoshi Sakimoto beats the pants off Nobuo Uematsu any day)
  
  Blas. Phem. Y.
5. Re:Oh, man... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-24 07:17 · Score: 0
  
  Fan. Boooooo... Y!
Don't forgot the actual music by Eric+S+Raymond · 2004-12-20 04:11 · Score: 3, Informative

http://www.zophar.net/music.html

http://www.2a03.org/

Software you'll need

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1. Re:Don't forgot the actual music by wizardNinja · 2004-12-20 07:59 · Score: 1
  
  Though it is wickedly illegal !!
  
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Minibosses = The Wackest Attackest. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-20 04:19 · Score: 0

Minibosses are terrible in comparison to HORSE The Band and NESkimos. True Nintendocore.
1. Re:Minibosses = The Wackest Attackest. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-20 05:03 · Score: 0
  
  I have to agree the mini-bosses are extremely overrated. They found an unsophisticated niche market that will praise anything they spew forth, as long as it's video game related.
  
  I'm all for video game music... as long as it's done well. The mini-bosses... they don't do it so well.
Speaking of Samus... by JoeFaust · 2004-12-20 04:31 · Score: 2, Informative

Have you guys checked out Metroid Metal yet? It's a great interpretation of the Metroid soundtrack. --JoeFaust
No offense to the VGmusic people, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-20 05:10 · Score: -1, Troll

MIDI is shit. It is the Wonder Bread of music formats. MIDI of videogame music is never going to sound anything like the actual tunes themselves, neither will it sound like a nice live instrument recording of the tunes.

For the latter, go to ocremix.org

For the former, try zophar's music section

Don't even bother with the MIDI on VGmusic. It's not real videogame music.
1. Re:No offense to the VGmusic people, but... by The+Other+White+Boy · 2004-12-20 06:16 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  sometimes midi has its uses. i go to vgmusic.com when i need a new ringer on my cell.
2. Re:No offense to the VGmusic people, but... by thrash242 · 2004-12-20 07:58 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  You obviously don't know what MIDI is for. It's not for replicating video game music on generic sound cards, no. But with some work, time, and a sampler, I could make a MIDI sound like video game music or anything else.
  For those that still dont' get it: MIDI has nothing to do with sound quality. It is *note data only*. It is like digital sheet music. You don't complain that a composition sucks when it is performed by a crappy band using the wrong instruments, do you? Sound quality is dependent entirely on what the MIDI is being played on. MIDI does not fill the same role as an MP3, a WAV, a MOD, an NSF, or anything of the sort. MIDI was invented as a standardized way to control synthesizers, samplers, etc, not to play video game music on cheesy consumer soundcards.
  MIDI is probably used in most video game sound tracks nowdays, as well as many movie soundtracks and in most electronic music. It's just not played through SoundBlasters. And for your information, I have taken MIDI files from vgmusic.com and made them sound quite cool. I do video game covers for fun, you see.
  So please try to understand what you're talking about before talking about it in the future.
3. Re:No offense to the VGmusic people, but... by dmauro · 2004-12-21 03:29 · Score: 1
  
  Midi files cannot properly represent the original data with note only data. There are effects the songs use which you are going to want to hear represented by the original file being played on an emulator or an original system. And if you really want the midi, you can always convert the nsf to midi easily enough.
  
  For original game audio NSFs go to zophar.net/nsf
  For original tracks and covers go to 2a03.org and download the archive.
4. Re:No offense to the VGmusic people, but... by thrash242 · 2004-12-21 09:30 · Score: 1
  
  I know that you can convert them to MIDI, as I often do.
  
  MIDI, however has up to 127 controllers that can simulate anything that can be done in an NSF assuming the synth or sampler is set up properly. I am, in fact, working on a Reaktor synth that emulates the NES synth pretty closely (but not the white noise percussion yet). It can even do the bass drum effects in many MegaMan games (the triangle wave that quickly pitch shifts down).
  
  I'm not arguing that MIDI can practically take the place of direct rips played on emulators, as I have a large archive of NSF, etc, just that MIDI is more than a type of file that plays cheesy sounding music, which is what many people think it is. I use MIDI when composing my own music and doing covers of video game music. If I want to hear original tracks, I'll play them on an emulator.
  
  I'm just sick of comments like the " MIDI is shit. It is the Wonder Bread of music formats." from people who obviously don't understand the concept of MIDI.
Why bother with VGMusic? Read above and within by Audigy · 2004-12-20 06:08 · Score: 1

Anyone peering in on this topic would be wasting his/her time by going to vgmusic.com - MIDI is a poor representation of the true glory of the videogame soundtracks of yesteryear.

With the development of digitally ripped (not recorded, we're talking the actual original data ripped directly from the game) soundtracks in the format of NSF, SPC, GSF, USF, PSF, and others, there's absolutely no point to downloading poorly interpreted general MIDI adaptations of these songs.

Download entire soundtracks in original format.

PSX and PS2
NES
SNES
Nintendo 64
GameBoy Advance

Don't subject yourself to the lack of organization at a poorly designed (ahaha powerlord sux at php rofl ;D) MIDI site.

It's remixes you're looking for? Look no further.

vgmix.net
Overclocked Remix

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GamingFM by n0wak · 2004-12-20 07:02 · Score: 2, Informative

Since everyone else seems to be regurgitating the same old tired links (OCRemix), I figured it would be good to mention one that isn't quite as tired (and enjoyable):

http://gamingfm.com

I am not affiliated with the site, but I am a long-time listener. Yes.
Hacked Amiga Music by julie-h · 2004-12-20 08:00 · Score: 1

Don't forget Hacked Amiga Music
Please learn how to make links. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-12-20 21:20 · Score: 0

Please learn how to make links.
<a href="http://gamingfm.com">GamingFM</a>
(without any spaces put there by Slashdot) yields: GamingFM

If that's too much typing for you,
<URL:http://gamingfm.com>
(without any spaces put there by Slashdot) yields: http://gamingfm.com/

Oh, and for you "Well just right-click on the text and click 'Follow Link'." people, tell me how to open a selected-text link containing extraneous Slashdot spaces in a new tab using Mozilla, or shut up.