Song of the Week - WEEK 201 Voting/WEEK 202 Nominating
 

Song of the Week. 200 Weeks and counting.
Week 201 Voting is dead.
Week 202 Nominating is red.

Results
1). [23] Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
2). [19] Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
3). [16] Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)
4). [12] CABAL Online: The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
5). [11] Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer
6). [10/8.5] Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof
7). [10/6.5] The Void Original Soundtrack - The Surface [Remastered]
8). [7] Akuji the Heartless (Game Rip) - Pluton

Tracks:
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Akuji the Heartless (Game Rip) - Pluton
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: CABAL Online - The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: The Void Original Soundtrack - The Surface [Remastered]
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community


Voting Rules:
Voters must distribute 6 points among the 8 nominees, giving points to at least 3 songs, giving no song more than 3 points, and giving no more than one of their choices 3 points. Possible ways of voting include:

Notes:
Please remember to upload your nominations to the SotW server! Uploaded noms mean a faster, smoother SotW experience for everyone. Server information:

Week 202 Nominating:
The Nominations Queue can be found here.
The rules for nominating can be found here.

It's about time we planned the next theme week, I'd say.

Anyone have any kickass ideas? I can throw in a bunch of random ones and we can see what sticks, but if someone's been thinking about it and has come up with something really cool, I'm all ears.

In the same breath that he suggested the one-minute week, Chuckster had this idea:

Additional Spam:
Akuji the Heartless (Game Rip) - Pluton The percussion is nice, but the rest of the song isn't up to snuff. Works well enough as a sort of general tribal atmosphere I suppose.

CABAL Online - The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice These South Korean MMORPG's produce a squidload of music, a lot of it very good, and most of it never gets heard by us VGM nerds. Despite some slightly irritating vocal effects, when this song gets going at around 1/3 of the way in, it's got a really nice rock opera sound.

Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer This one is all over the place after a particularly weird beginning. It eventually resolves itself into something decent, but there's too much fluff for my taste.

Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof Personally I would have nominated the "Zomies on the Lawn" song from this game (which I fully intend to do if this track doesn't place). Still, it's one of the better in-game songs, with a nice drive and catchy melody. There isn't enough development to sustain the song's length, but it's still a nice easy listen.

Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt The melody of this chiptune is okay, but the stereo effects (especially on the right, which to my ears seems out of sequence with the rest) and C64-style trills dampen any enjoyment.

Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2) The Summoner scores are unusual among fantasy music in that they're a lot more modern than the standart LotR-lite such things often get stuck with. I've tried to get into them several times, but each time the lack of decent melodies and a tendancy toward vague new-agey ambiance has turned me away, as is the case here.

The Void Original Soundtrack - The Surface [Remastered] Some tasty piano selections here, nice and dark. I'm not crazy about the bongo drums or the song's short length, but niether are deal-breakers.

Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community Sometimes you just gotta listen to something that's light and fun, and this fits the bill perfectly. Great melody--especially when taken up by the piano--and a busy sonic atmosphere make this one a keeper.

Nice week! Point distribution was hard. And no, Stalky, I'm not voting tactically: I really did like Bloody Ice, The Roof, and the Surface enough to want to give them all points alongside my nom :)

The Point Spread
Community - 3 pts.
Bloody Ice - 1 pt.
The Roof - 1 pt.
The Surface - 1 pt.

No nom until I see whether "The Roof" places, but it'll either be "Zombies on the Lawn" from PVZ or Playground from Flyff.

Not sure whether these ideas are that fantastic but here's a shot at themed week ideas:

Intro/main menu theme week: Intro/main menu themes can be important for setting the mood of a game, regardless of genre. And they tend to be very short affairs, with some exceptions, so such a week could be an extended 60s week of sorts.

Whimsical Wonderland week: With Alice in Wonderland hitting screens next week, perhaps we could do a whimsical week with numbers like slapstick songs and tunes that don't take themselves too seriously.

Sci-fi Channel week: Nominate your most out of this world game tracks with a sci-fi connection. Maybe tie-in with some major sci-fi game/TV series/movie launch.

(3 points) CABAL Online - The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
Wow... *speechless*

(1 point) Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer
A tad annoying at times, but a cool fusion-rock tune overall.

(1 point) Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof
Quirky and catchy, albeit relatively simple.

(1 point) Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
More quirkiness and catchiness!

As for a theme week idea,
"Epic Proportions": Minimum song length of somewhere between 7-10 minutes, unlooped. And no maximum. (This would be kind of an opposite of the 60-sec theme)

2 Points: The Void Original Soundtrack - The Surface [Remastered]
1 Point: Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
1 Point: Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof
1 Point: CABAL Online - The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
1 Point: Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community

Also had that idea, it suggests itself really, only thing that might be a bit problematic is the fact that one could easily end up needing eighty minutes to listen to every track once.

Things i had in mind were an acoustic instrumentation week or a percussion week, those should be self-explanatory and there are of course quite a few other possible themes when the criterion simply is the type of the instrument.

1 point: Akuji the Heartless (Game Rip) - Pluton
1 point: Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof
1 point: CABAL Online - The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
1 point: Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
1 point: Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
1 point: The Void Original Soundtrack - The Surface [Remastered]
Honourable Mention: Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)
Dishonourable Mention: Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer

None of the tracks this week 'wowed' me per se, but I'm saving 7 of them. Testament to this week's quality, and hopefully a tight end result. Good stuff! (Why do I like "Pluton" so much I don't understand)

As for theme weeks, I'm a fan of the concept of having a week revolving around a similar sound (you know, like the Yuletide week) rather than a similar length or whatever. I light-heartedly second the 'whimsical' idea because about half of my VGM library fills that criteria. May I suggest a kind of Piano Theme Week, where all nominated tracks must either be solely piano tracks or at least feature the piano as the lead instrument. Similarly, a Voilin Theme Week could be cool. I'll likely back anything though, 'cause I like the whole 'theme week' thing.

Just to let you know, I very much back your idea of nominating "Playground" from Flyff. :)

Horrible week. =/

(3 points) Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
(1 point) Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
(1 point) Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)
(1 point) Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof

(3)points: The Void Original Soundtrack - The Surface [Remastered]
I too am not crazy about the bongo drums, but definitely my favorite piece.

(2)points: Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
I can get into this melody.

(1)points: Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)
A little bit generic, but it's better than the rest of what's on there.

Here are my votes:

3 points - Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)
2 points - Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
1 point - Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer

3 Points - Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof: OMG, great song, went right off the... ceiling. I'd like to see that one win by a... ceiling's difference. Plant vs. Zombies lol what the fuck is that? Is the rest on the same... roof's level?

Pitstop at minipitt: ZOMG, I think my phone is on crack.

1 Point - Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2): quite repetitive, but atmospherically ok enough

2 Points - Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community: sound like some Christmas song if you ask me. Sounds also like chicken pickings corns.

2 points: Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer
2 points: Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
1 point: Akuji the Heartless (Game Rip) - Pluton
1 point: Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)

3 points: Akuji the Heartless (Game Rip) - Pluton
1 point: CABAL Online - The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
1 point: Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof
1 point: Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt

For a theme week, I've been thinking something more along the lines of People Can't Sing Week; VGM with vocals as main focus, whether good, bad or plain ugly.


Nomination:

• Album: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (NES Game Rip)
• Artist: Tim Follin, Geoff Follin
• Track #: 3
• Track Title: Truck Stop (Level 1)
• Year: 1992

The Surface [remastered]

This has a spooky, carnival-esque atmosphere. For me the moment when the bongos come in is the strongest part - listen to the background at this point. It feels like I'm walking around a twisted hall of mirrors. [1]


Iona Monastery (iona2)

A wonderful brooding atmosphere, but with enough elements and changes to drive the tension and make it a bit more than pure ambience. I particularly like when the track opens out at 1.30 and we hear something like the voices of ghosts past. A great track, and I can imagine it being even more effective in game. [2]


minipitt

I love the way it ramps up in clear stages, introducing different more hectic elements until finally reaching a crescendo of arpeggio madness. And threaded right the way through, one of the best chiptune melodies I've ever heard. [3]

Very nice selection this week. It was particularly difficult to give out points.

(2 points) CABAL Online - The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
Had no idea the game had music of this level. Nice.

(2 points) Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)
Beautifully atmospheric piece that develops rather well. I've heard fairly good things about the Summoner games and was always curious about the games' music.

(1 point) Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
A great feel-good track that I'd have given more points if it had just a tad more development.

(1 point) Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
Could be a bit better at some points but still a good chiptune.

Ran out of points for Plants vs. Zombies and The Void. :(

2 points ~ CABAL Online - The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
2 points ~ Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer
1 point ~ Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
1 point ~ Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community

Didn't we have a percussion week in the past? An official or unofficial one?

Anyway, I'm going to have to think of some other possible theme ideas, outside of the Famous Game, Obscure Name idea I espoused to Orion a few months ago.

My fear is we start shoehorning themes to game conventions, like a Menu Theme week, an Ending Theme week, and so on. I do like other similar sounding ideas (Whimsical week sounds like fun).

Actually, I just came up with one idea: The Anti-Battle. Take the eight lowest scoring tracks in SotW history (if records go back that fire, and if there isn't a multitude of tracks tied at the bottom). Vote on Best of the Worst ... or even better, Worst of the Worst with negative points given out. Could be a nice sidelight for times when we have an unplanned two-week break.

Alright, not a bad week. Sliding my points in quickly before things wrap up.

(3 points) Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
(2 points) Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
(1 point) Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)

2 points: Broken Replicator
1 point: Community
1 point: The Roof
1 point: Iona Monastery (iona 2)
1 point: Pluton
Just Missed: Map Theme - Bloody Ice

Good week. That Hedges track is bizarre.

Biggest disappointment this week is finding out that this CABAL Online is not a remake of the classic arcade game, and just some MMORPG. Good tune, though.

Additional Spam:
I don't see anything wrong with using game conventions as the basis for a theme week.

If anything, the only theme week I would disapprove of is one that would strictly limit the genre variation between noms. Weeks like Percussion week (which we did have, week 66) and Yuletide week were successful in my opinion, because while all the tunes were linked with a certain theme (in the case of those using game conventions like menus or intros, this would link the context together, which is important), it didn't result in every single tune sounding exactly like each other.

Though it would probably be a good idea to split Elorin's first suggestion (Intro and Menu themes) into two.

Wasn't all that thrilled with this week. A lot ambiance but not much substance.

3 Points: Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
2 Points: Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
1 Point: Akuji the Heartless (Game Rip) - Pluton

I took a peek at the ol' queue, and there are only seven nominations in the sucker. So, that means we're up for a batch of six next week, unless any stragglers want to throw a track in. I'll leave this open a little while longer (say another twelve hours or so from now) for people to see this. No real reason to close voting until then, so I'll leave that open too.

Oh, very well:

Album: Flyff (Game Rip)
Artist: SoundTEMP
Track #: 5
Track Title: Playground
Year: 2005

We need another nom? Alright then.

Album: Silver Surfer (NES rip)
Artist: Tim Follin
Track Title: The Silver Surfers
Track #: 09
Year: 1990

I know, it's Follin, but I'm pretty sure Level Theme 2 / Track 6 is the only Silver Surfer song that's been represented on GFF (in SotW and BSC/BCC). And that's a shame.

EDIT: There were three tracks that caught my ear more than the others this week:

minipitt - 2 pts.
Iona Monastery - 2 pts.
The Surface - 2 pts.

The Roof was close.

closed yada yada yada

1). [23] Shotgun Ninja (Game Rip) - minipitt
2). [19] Yuusha 30 Sou Original Soundtrack - Community
3). [16] Summoner (PS2 Game Rip) - Iona Monastery (iona2)
4). [12] CABAL Online: The Revolution of Action (Game Rip) - Map Theme - Bloody Ice
5). [11] Lagrange Point - Broken Replicaizer
6). [10/8.5] Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip) - The Roof
7). [10/6.5] The Void Original Soundtrack - The Surface [Remastered]
8). [7] Akuji the Heartless (Game Rip) - Pluton