(3 points) Dragon's Fury (Game Rip) - OMAKEBGM00 (Thunder Force II: Knights of Legend)
(1 point) Dynamite Headdy (Game Rip) - Schumacher Fly
(1 point) DOUBLE DRAGON II The Revenge - Low Pursuit (Mission 2)
(1 point) Kameo: Elements of Power Original Soundtrack - Hero's Theme

Nomination:
Artist:Yuzo Koshiro
Album:Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 Original Soundtrack
Track Title:Phantom of Blue
Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
Track Number: 17
Catalog Number: MJCD-20102
Year: September 27, 2007
Source: Game Music Revolution

Anyone else care to weigh in on Metroid Prime? Opinions seem mixed, so I'm probably going to make a poll within the next 24 hours unless there's a flood of ayes or nays.

As superpumped as I am to get a nom from this, this album was released four days ago. Let's give the Iwatsuki some time to marinate and taste even better.

We seem to be having a whole spate of nominations from recent games and albums. Maybe it's about time we actually codify how long it takes for music to no longer be novel, assuming people still agree with this rule. Three months?

A Met Prime track with some Brinstar in there? I'm actually pretty lenient on eligibility, but gotta go no on it.

Fuck the album, I'd have nominated the track if there was a gamerip. It's not like Omega Five is a super popular game, and it's been out on Live for at least a while. WHILE THE IRON IS HOT, CHz! BLARGH.

Edit: On a serious note, I don't necessarily understand the point of letting the game music "simmer" when it isn't exactly an ultra popular release to begin with. Exactly who are we catering to at this point? Why does game music have to be "simmering" in the face of an "album" release. That sounds pretty backward. I doubt much of GFF, or any "gamer" for that matter, actually knew about the track until this album was released. Granted I have no actual statistics for that, so I'm reaching a bit... so I'll just ask, the game dropped January 8th, 2008; how long of a wait are we talking about here, Chz?

There's no Brinstar in the track. And also no ocarina.

Edit: ROFL @ Dynamite Headdy. There's no way I can vote now, the 'shot bias will just be too overpowering.

I can still nominate though!

Artist(s): Spencer Nilsen
Album/Game Title: Sonic Boom
Track Title: Workbench - Bad Future
Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
Track Number: 14
Catalog Number: DIDX-020642
Year: 1993
Source(s): DIDX-020642: Sonic the Hedgehog Boom Limited Collector's Edition - The... - VGMdb

The Metroid game series and its music are very popular, although latter titles aren't classics. If this specific track actually includes hints from the first game soundtrack, it doesn't seem obscure enough in my opinion.

Plus, I think there's more to VGM than Metroid. A lot more.

Three months sound good. When a new album gets released (and even more so when it's shared by #gamemp3s), it receives a good deal of attention. So, I don't think it needs the boost of SotW yet.

And as I mentioned above, there's more to VGM than one album/game/series. I'm certain there's material out there pretty much nobody heard about, yet there's always a risk that they might prefer never to hear about it either. As long as I'm concerned, I prefer to be exposed to songs that might be slightly less excellent than the popular tunes, but that are completely unfamiliar to my ears.

According to CHz and Dhsu, it doesn't. If there is going to be a poll about this, it would be nice if the poster could point out the fact that this is a completely original track as there seems to be quite some confusion regarding this fact.

Well, I can certainly see your point here, and I agree with you on most of it. With the MP track although, I had the feeling that while the game is well-known, its soundtrack isn't. For example, when I downloaded it and listened to it outside of the game for the first time, I was really surprised at how good it was, because I didn't really pay attention to it in-game.

Well, maybe that's just me, or maybe most of you guys already have the soundtrack in which case it really doesn't need SotW exposure. This is just the reason why I felt it would be a good idea to nominate this. Also, sorry for causing such a mess doing it ;).

Also, can anyone tell me where I can find some information about this Best Song Contest that everyone is talking about? I've tried searching for it but didn't find anything useful.

My votes:

(2 points) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Video Game Soundtrack - To Catch An Owl

(2 points) Kameo Elements of Power Original Soundtrack - Hero's Theme

(1 point) REAL BOUT Garou Densetsu 2 Arrange Sound Trax - Get The Sky -With Your Dream- (Alfred)

(1 point) DOUBLE DRAGON II The Revenge - Low Pursuit (Mission 2)

(2 points) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Video Game Soundtrack - To Catch An Owl
(2 points) Kameo Elements of Power Original Soundtrack - Hero's Theme
(2 points) Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow (PC Redbook Audio) - The Mojo Mansion


Alright week (too many dull entries, though).

Btw, is Phantasy Star series banned for Sotw? And some other series (apart of the popular ones, evidently)?

I understand holding off on an album that's new that has the chance to become really popular. But for stuff that is pretty obscure and certainly won't move into the spotlight, I don't see why we need to wait. It's not going to make a huge leap and be outside the confines of SOTW anytime soon.

It seems like this week the votes are divergent.

²P DOUBLE DRAGON II The Revenge - Low Pursuit (Mission 2)
³P Dynamite Headdy (Game Rip) - Schumacher Fly
1P Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - To Catch an Owl

I am not too familiar with Metroid really, hence I say yes, especially it's promised to be an entirely original track.

DOUBLE DRAGON II The Revenge - Low Pursuit (Mission 2) Vaguely reminds me of Sasai's Mystic Quest work. Not bad, but doesn't deliver on its early promise.

Dragon's Fury (Game Rip) - OMAKEBGM00 (Thunder Force II: Knights of Legend) A decent chippier sound, but ultimately not enough development to keep it interesting for the full length.

Duck Tales 2 (Game Rip) - Scotland Theme I loved and played the first Ducktales game, but never even saw a copy of its sequel, and the music's entirely new to me. Reminds me a bit of the original's Transylvania theme, but suffers by comparison somewhat.

Dynamite Headdy (Game Rip) - Schumacher Fly A fine, energetic, complex tune, this. The composer really pushed the old Genesis sound chip to the limit here.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - To Catch an Owl James Hannigan did an excellent job with the most recent Harry Potter OST, and this is a good representative of that. Sweeping and whimsical with a great (original) melody.

Kameo: Elements of Power Original Soundtrack - Hero's Theme We've had a lot of Kameo nominations (at least two from me), but that's fine by me as it's a terrific OST. This bold, choral music may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's the kind of thing I lap up.

Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow (PC Redbook Audio) - The Mojo Mansion Sort of a "Haunted Mansion" vibe here; very cute and surprisingly catchy.

Real Bout Garou Densetsu 2 Arrange Sound Trax - Get the Sky ~ With Your Dream (Alfred) A nice rock ballad with that "Top Gun" feel.

This was quite a good week; I enjoyed most of the tracks thoroughly.

The Point Spread
Harry Potter - 3 pts.
Dynamite Headdy - 1 pt.
Kameo - 1 pt.
Mojo Mansion - 1 pt.

2 points - DOUBLE DRAGON II The Revenge - Low Pursuit (Mission 2)
2 points - Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow (PC Redbook Audio) - The Mojo Mansion
1 point - Dragon's Fury (Game Rip) - OMAKEBGM00 (Thunder Force II: Knights of Legend)
1 point - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - To Catch an Owl

There was nothing I disliked this week, very good overall.

3 pts - Low Pursuit
2 pts - Schumacher Fly
1 pts - Omake

Double Dragon was an easy in, then it was a free for all. Would have given the original Knights of Legend 3...Maybe 6. Schumacher was a cool surprise, so I slipped it two.

I made a Metroid Prime poll.

We once had a track from Katamari Damacy in SotW. This was from a game rip, before the soundtrack came out and way before the game was released in the U.S. So that's the theory behind the rule: you can't tell if this dinky little shmup no one's heard of could have a word-of-mouth popularity explosion and be Katamari friggin' Damacy.

Even if you agree that waiting is a good idea, though, it turns out to be particularly hard to nail down how long to wait. Let's just say we go with three months after the game's initial release. Who's to say three months is long enough, and everyone isn't going to know the music inside and out at the end of month four? What if the game's been out in Japan for four months, but is due out in the U.S. in another month? Is it okay now, or should we wait until after the new release? And how long after the new release? What if the game's been out for four months, but a soundtrack is coming out in the next month? That would probably increase the popularity of the music even more than a domestic release of the game would. :bigugh:

I don't really have an opinion for or against the rule, but it's how we've been doing things. We've just been able to get away with a nebulous "novelty is not obscurity" without defining an acceptable waiting period because we've never really had to deal with people nominating very recently released tracks until a bunch of them right now.

Um, Sonic CD? Is this okay with anyone?

The BSC is a yearly tournament-style contest here for any original piece of video game music (so nothing off arrangement CDs, etc.). You can view the 2006 and 2007 archives.

Yup, all Phantasy Star is out, unless you can make a case that a specific game is obscure enough. Same with Wild Arms. I'm seriously making myself a note this time to finish that list, because I keep forgetting and it's embarrassing.

I assumed it would be since I didn't see it in the archive. I don't really know about its popularity outside SotW though, aside from SONIC BOOM, SONIC BOOM, SONIC BOOOOOOOOM. Is there just a moratorium on non-SMS Sonic games in general? How about the Advance and Rush series?

Hey guys, I'm back in this thing! (My last nom was Distant Memories, a runner-up all the way back in Week 29.) You can thank Liontamer for encouraging me to return to nominating new songs... although I haven't actually acquired much new obscure music in a while, so we'll see how long this lasts. But I have at least a few tracks in mind. And I'll try to vote when I can! :)

Oh, CHz. Would the Rockman X arrange album be obscure enough to qualify for SotW? I know Mega Man is insanely popular, but that album seems relatively obscure.

Anyway, here's my current nom. Larry, I heard your criticisms during #VGM, but this really does seem to be the most competitive song on the album.

Artist(s): kt2
Album/Game Title: History Repeats Itself: Abandoner/Lostchild coupling soundtrack
Track Title: Abandoner - Abandoner Main Title
Disc Number: only one
Track Number: 2/12
Catalog Number: HBMC-011
Year: 2004
Source(s): The actual physical CD. And here's the VGMdb link for those who want it.

Voting is closed and nominations are restricted!

1). [19/13] Dynamite Headdy (Game Rip) - Schumacher Fly
2). [19/12] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - To Catch an Owl
3). [18] DOUBLE DRAGON II The Revenge - Low Pursuit (Mission 2)
4). [17] Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow (PC Redbook Audio) - The Mojo Mansion
5). [15] Dragon's Fury (Game Rip) - OMAKEBGM00 (Thunder Force II: Knights of Legend)
6). [14] Real Bout Garou Densetsu 2 Arrange Sound Trax - Get the Sky ~ With Your Dream (Alfred)
7). [9] Kameo: Elements of Power Original Soundtrack - Hero's Theme
8). [3] Duck Tales 2 (Game Rip) - Scotland Theme

No moratorium, although I think Sonic games should be looked at pretty closely. I thought Sonic CD's soundtracks were pretty well known, so I want to know what other people think. I'd be fine with the Advance games, but probably not with Rush or Rush Adventure.

Not likely. Album doesn't seem to get as much love as it should, but I don't see it being obscure enough to make up for the fact that everyone knows MMX.

3 points - Dragon's Fury (Game Rip) - OMAKEBGM00 (Thunder Force II: Knights of Legend)
2 points - DOUBLE DRAGON II The Revenge - Low Pursuit (Mission 2)
Nothing else really stood out for me. But
1 point - Dynamite Headdy (Game Rip) - Schumacher Fly
because I don't mind hearing it as much.


****Nomination****

Game/Album: No More Heroes (Game Rip. Don't know if the OST is out yet)
Song: Pleather for Breakfast (Fight vs Bad Girl)
Composer(s): Masafumi Takada & Jun Fukuda

EDIT: *Stares at time stamp of the last post*
*Anger*

The quality of the music in video games released in the last four months or so must be phenomenal.

No More Heroes
JP: December 6, 2007
US: January 22, 2008
OST: January 23, 2008

If this is okay, that NiGHTS track is too.

:gonk::gonk::gonk:

GONK!!!!

Oh well, glad to see two of my picks take medals at least. Didn't realize it would be that close.

See, I'm not really tracking here as that's a gigantic tap dance around what I asked. How long am I going to be waiting? I'm going to assume all that up there just added up to "There's a rule we follow, I don't know." I'm going over the rule you're supposedly invoking... no, it's not a rule, it's a "guideline", in this case. Whatever the hell this is:

I can't say I agree with the logic in this case, at all. Omega Five is an X-Box Live Arcade shooter that appeals to people who can appreciate how esoteric it is, that or people who just wanted the Gamerscore. Katamari Damacy was a PS2 game that exploded in popularity because the PS2 is actually a medium with a user base that actually wanted it from the get go. Personally, I don't really think it takes clairvoyance to see that the Omega Five Soundtrack is where most people are going to probably gain an appreciation for the game's music. However, my appreciation is from actually hearing it in game.

That said, I don't know what to do with that giant block of text, CHz. I'm gonna sit here, with no clearly defined time and one day someone's gonna decide that "Oh hey, it'd be cool to nominate this because it sounds cool off the album I just downloaded" while I'm sitting here right now thinking "I wanted to nominate this the day I heard it while playing the damned game." Just, I really want some kind of answer regarding how long of a wait I'm looking at. Or at least confirm to me that all that up there is the equivalent of "I don't know how long you're waiting, there's rules."

Oh, there's a 4 month rule? My apologies. I'll replace it with something else later then.

Regarding the inhibition period for new releases, I'd put it 3 months after a game's release (1) in the US (2) for the following reasons:
1. OST wouldn't matter, because it's the chance to listen to the track that's important. The time that an OST is released is also quite arbitrary.
2. US, because that's when the chance is greatest to be exposed to a track.
If it's a JP release, then wait 6 months or so.

About the Sonic nomination, I can't decide and would need more information. If the current track is an arrangement of some popular source tune, then no, otherwise yes.