64Digits

Is video game music good enough to standalone?

Posted by death on Feb. 12, 2013, 2:08 p.m.

The past couple months i have been spending all my music time listening to game soundtracks. Now i'm a member of the Escapist and on the forums a thread was started about how video game music is generic and can't stand on it's own. (the OP went as far as saying that video games would be better with pop music being used instead, like in a lot of shitty teen movies)

Now of course i disagreed with a massive size post but it did make me curious about whether or not VGM OST's could really sell as well as mainstream music.

I listen to a lot of OST's, some of my favorites being from:

-Ys Seven

-Star Ocean: Till The End of Time

-Chrono Cross

-Vomitron (cover band)

and of course tons of chiptunes as well.

So my question is, how often do gamers listen to VGM when not playing games? And would you be willing to pay money for VGM OSTs? Or go to a kickass concert like this?

Comments

flashback 11 years, 9 months ago

The Mass Effect soundtracks get a lot of playtime when I am working on things.

Taizen Chisou 11 years, 9 months ago

@Dagger

Its pretty hard for me to not be an idiot when accessing 64d from a phone.

sirxemic 11 years, 9 months ago

Quote:

Can you feel nostalgia for something you've just discovered?

Because the soundtrack to Dustforce is excellent.

Of course there are exceptions. Besides, I was mostly talking about music of older video games.

Also, while Dustforce's sountrack fits the game, it doesn't sound like game music. In any case, Dustforce's soundtrack is awesome, I agree.

Eva unit-01 11 years, 9 months ago

Forgot to mention two other really good ones I love.

EDGE soundtrack

and

Darksiders II. The first one's OST is widely forgettable save for the title song.

flashback 11 years, 9 months ago

Oh, also, Bastion's soundtrack is fantastic.

sirxemic 11 years, 9 months ago

Since we're talking about favorite video game music, this is the VGM I listen to:

Super Mario 64 OST

Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 OST

Donkey Kong Country 1,2 and 3 OSTs

Beyond Good & Evil OST

Dustforce OST

Meatboy OST

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 OST

Metroid Prime 1, 2 and 3 OST

Of course I don't listen to the complete OSTs. There are tracks which aren't nice to listen to on their own.

colseed 11 years, 9 months ago

Quote:

Is video game music good enough to standalone?

well seeing as there's

Battlefield 3 main theme

Borderlands No Heaven

Borderlands 2 No Place for a Hero

AC3 Fight Club

Dishonored drunken whaler song

Corpse Party Soul of Steel

Touhou 6: EoSD Lunar Clock ~ Luna Dial

Rocketbirds Once I Was Lost, Robot, Illuminate Me

and then spinoffs like

Who Killed U.N. Owen (Liz Triangle) and

a vocal arrangement of Suika's theme that I don't know how to translate

and noting that I started playing games like Rocketbirds and Touhou in large part *because* of the soundtracks, I think my answer would be yes.

JID 11 years, 9 months ago

The lack of Hotline Miami in this thread is a disappoints

Taizen Chisou 11 years, 9 months ago

Luna Dial. You're trying to show people Touhou music and you show them Luna Dial. Shame.

You could have mentioned Last Remote, or Native Faith, or Captain Murasa, or Fires of Hokkai. True Administrator, Hartmann's Youkai Girl, Heian Alien, Rural Makai City Esoteria? Cinderella Cage, Voyage 1969, Candid Friend, Cemetery of Onbashira, Beloved Tomboyish Daughter, Phantom Ensemble, Ultimate Truth?

Shame.

Charlie Carlo 11 years, 9 months ago

As much as I hate Halo, the theme song is so damn good.