New Site Feature: Overlooked Music Mix

[MattG-PTB]

First installment:
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/music/20 ... atone.html

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it so far...

I love that Mega Man X mix. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

[kinn]

First installment:
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/music/20 ... atone.html

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it so far...

Great start so far!

[racketboy]

Are you guys still liking this series?
Any suggestions for improvement so far?
More often/Less Tracks?
Less Often/More tracks?

Speak up!

[durkada]

Are you guys still liking this series?
Any suggestions for improvement so far?
More often/Less Tracks?
Less Often/More tracks
Speak up!

I like the series, very much. The first one started out strong -- not least of which for the Bjorn Lynn props, ala Worms 2. But a portion of the second and the complete third installment fell very flat on my ears. Music which would grace the soundtrack of Gladiator sounded like new-age drivel, to me. Even though I've detested some of the selections, I'm still happy -- largely because I've not played most of the games being mentioned, and have no idea as to the relative merits of their soundtracks.

But, overall, about one or two of the tracks I actually enjoy hearing; enough so to hunt down the other tracks.

So long as Mozgus can keep up the pace, I'd recommend it continues as stands. Since its one man's taste, I suspect the column would be better if others contributed suggestions -- for a more varied and eclectic approach.

At the very least, I'm happy to see more front page content. And not as a slight to Racketboy, but its also good to read things from other members of this little community.

As another question, since we're relatively retrofocused, is the music also? If the music column does not reference the latest games, what is the criteria for retro?

I commented in the first installment about my pleasure, but again -- I enjoy the series, and , thank Mozgus for putting it all together and Racket for hosting.

Lets get some chip music in the mix.

[racketboy]

If other people want to contribute (on a music post or otherwise), they can just let me know.
Obviously, I have some quality standards to be met, but I'm always up for other contributions.
I've had numerous people show interest in the past, but they usually don't follow through.

Even if you have one article you would like to write, let me know.

As for the age of the music selections, Mozgus has stated that some of the selections are rather modern. I don't mind having some modern in there, but I would like to keep things a bit older as that does cater to our target audience.

I don't want a bunch of chiptunes, but I would like to hear more modern remixes of older compositions and more from the early CD era.

[Mozgus]

It's a tough balance. I'm avoiding current gen, but heavily plucking from last gen even though its not retro at all. But if I do go retro, do you or anyone honestly believe that the casual listener will even enjoy it assuming he/she plays it? I'm guessing no, never, not at all. It doesn't matter how superior the composition is, people just ignore chiptunes. Also, it'll go against the statement paragraph right at the start of each installment.

Oh and

I like the series, very much. The first one started out strong -- not least of which for the Bjorn Lynn props, ala Worms 2. But a portion of the second and the complete third installment fell very flat on my ears. Music which would grace the soundtrack of Gladiator sounded like new-age drivel, to me. Even though I've detested some of the selections, I'm still happy -- largely because I've not played most of the games being mentioned, and have no idea as to the relative merits of their soundtracks.

Ouch, man. If you can pick better, join us. All I know is I like what I like, but I wont believe that I have terrible taste. If I remember, you're much older, so you should throw us your perspective with your own selections.

I'd also like to point out that game music has a frustrating trait; it's very hard to appreciate without having played the games. This is always true to some extent for any given person. My guess is that a game's style and mood are well connected to the music, and without the game there to teach you to appreciate the music, you're on your own. One bad 10 second impression, and you've made up your mind. I have less trouble with this than other people, but there's still the urge to dismay music I'm not familiar with. I have quite a lot of songs from games I've never even tried.

[racketboy]

I haven't played a lot of the games featured so far, but I've enjoyed listening to most of the tracks at least once. There are a few that I've added to my iTunes library as well.

BTW, I do plan on doing an installment or two myself to share some of my favorite tracks.

[racketboy]

Well, I'm not making more than one music series at this point.
If anybody wants to produced their own installment of the series, they can write their own intro and can select their songs.

My only guidelines is that it is mostly non-current gen games.
It's not all chiptunes.
It's not too well-known (because of the "hidden") part.

[RadarScope1]

Oh-kaaaay then. I've read all of this and I have a few thoughts. I'll try to keep it brief.

On the series: I like it. It's fine. Just keep playing with it and see what works.

On music: It's ALL subjective. Even adding more people/viewpoints still won't fix that. Someone will always manage to dislike something.

On chiptunes: I really like chiptunes, and wouldn't mind hearing more. However, I think I can see why Racket and Mozgus wouldn't want to include much of it. It's everywhere on the Web, and it isn't hard to find the good stuff (www.8bitpeoples.com - there I just did it for you). I'm guessing that's why Racket doesn't care to put it on the site. He likely wants to go for something that's not being done elsehwhere. That's smart.

On tone: Moz, you're being harsh. Durkada, you're being thin-skinned. Just because this is generally a "nice" forum doens't mean we can't disagree and still get on about things.

On nice guys: They never win? That's total bullshit. I understand most of us here are geeks but it doesn't mean you have to be a "dick" to get respect. That might work for a while, but trust me, it ain't a winning strategy for life in the long term. Undisputed scientific fact: people hate dicks.

[racketboy]

We'll give this thing another try -- this time with a Halloween-flavored 4-track installment:
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2007/10/ ... nte-8.html

Right now, I think we should do 4 tracks every 3 week instead of 3 tracks every two weeks.