Super best lucky quest! Convince a non-gamer to like video game music!
 

Suppose you have a friend or associate who is not particularly a fan of video games or video game music. If you could play one song to entice them to the dark side, what would it be? I post this out of interest, not because I'm attempting to recruit minions for this aforementioned dark side.

My choice would have to be Besaid Island from Final Fantasy X, as it's impossible to dislike. Well, almost. Someone's probably going to post something like: "Tee hee hee, me not like dat song. zpehyrlcaw u suck ahaha." Seriously, though, it's catchy and undeniably pleasant. Although it's repetitive, it contains subtle variations such as the addition of strings and diverse percussion instruments. Win.

Wouldn't this depend entirely on what kind of music that person normally preferred? It's not like music takes on a different quality after being in a video game.

I'm essentially asking: if you had one chance to dispel the myth that video game music "sucks", what song would you choose? What piece would you select, that you believe possesses universal appeal? The person who is receiving this recommendation is intentionally generic for this purpose.

knk, does have a point. Some people prefer slow songs over fast, and country over rock. It all comes down to their taste.

First I'd offer the person a taste of something good, you know just to get the interest flowing. Moon Over the Castle would be a little risky. He'd/She'd listen to the slow part and be like "WTF is this?!" Keep saying "It's gonna rock out soon." Before he/she turns it off, the guitars kick in and the person will probably be interested.

Then you need another song to get the person interested even more. I'd then try Halo Theme Mjolnir Mix from Halo 2 so that he/she can be like "This is something I'd expect to hear in the Matrix!" Maybe not like that but it'll sound like it came from a movie.

Now you need one more song. I'd finally give the person something like Haven City Battle from Jak II, or The Fiend from Ninja Gaiden (XBOX).

Afterwards, if the person is still interested or hooked...there's hope. If he/she isn't, then forget about it for now and try again some other time.

A word of caution, don't use anything kick ass like Last Battle from Chrono Trigger or The Extreme from Final Fantasy 8. What I'm trying to get at is, don't have them listen to the best songs or else there's a good chance the person won't like anything lower than that level and will lose interest very quickly. Let the person find the best songs on his/her own.

If...big if...IF the person happens to be into really kiddy music, then give them the Yoshi's Story theme song straight from the get-go. If you can think if anything else besides that, then use it.

There's no guarantee that my method will work...in fact, I probably doubt it ever will. Parents would be the hardest to convert to the dark side. :D

Edit: Ack! Just one song? Definitely Halo Theme Mjolnir Mix then.

Moon over the Castle would rock anybody's socks, especially if it's the one from the GT2 OST, as IMO that's the best version.

Pull out the Grand Theft Auto Vice City OST. Play that and let them go "nice music". Then tell them it was used in a video game.

It'll blow their mind.

How in the hell can this song be kickass?* Especially the ear-grinding, deafening SCCCCRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAW at the 1:42 mark. ._.

If the person I knew liked Mario music, I would give him the Cortez Battle theme from Paper Mario TTYD to try out (hey, I thought it was good... but many people in BSC state otherwise ;_; ).

Or, if I didn't know a person's particular taste in music.... I'd have to think about that one, actually. A thought would be "Trouble in the Barracks" from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.


*I don't mean to rant on you just because you like it. Assuming you've seen my comments regarding Last Battle already, I'll say it again: I really, REALLY hate this track. But what should I care whether or not other people like it? =o

Like some people have said, it all depends on what the person likes. If I know they hate metal, I'm not about to play "Otherworld" for them. If I know they hate celtic and guitar-y music, I'd give the Chrono Cross soundtrack a miss and try something else. If I were trying to convert someone, I might be tempted to start them on arranged albums and vocal collections (unless the original track is exceptionally high quality in-game). Just because, no matter how good the song, it might turn some people off if it's immediately recognisable AS game music. Get them hooked first, then let them ease into it.

Though yes, there's some tracks that just kick ass, period. I've played Creid (from the Xenogears Creid album) for random people and had them absolutely fall in love with the song without ever knowing it was from (or at least, closely linked to) a video game.

I actually made up a CD a while ago for a friend, with some choice tracks from the games featured in the PLAY! concerts. It was a DEVIOUS PLOY to try to convince him to go to the Toronto show with me. (He declined. I don't think he ever listened to the CD. :P) I didn't keep a track list, but I remember it having:

• Liberi Fatali (FF8)
• One-Winged Angel (Advent Children version)
• Destati, Dearly Beloved, Hikari [KINGDOM Orchestra Instrumental Version], Hollow Bastion (Kingdom Hearts)
• Gerudo Valley, Ocarina Medley (Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Symphony), and an arranged version of the main Zelda theme
• Metal Gear Solid 2 Main Theme
• A Mario suite from one of the various game music concerts
• The Shaping of the World, Seasons of War (World of Warcraft)
• Theme of Laura, Promise (Silent Hill 2), and the main theme of Silent Hill 1
• Morrowind main theme

(No Chrono music since he's already a huge Chrono fan and is well aware of its music.)

He's already familiar with game music in general, and this CD was limited to games featured in PLAY!. So it's definitely not the same CD I'd make as a general introduction for someone who's a complete game music virgin. Maybe I'll throw together a track list later, just for fun.

I've been thinking about doing that for my music teacher. I'll have to chip in with my tracklist once I do. :)

VGM isnt a genre. Stop the nonsense already.

No one said it was, niki. For those of you who are still confused, the point of this thread is: select one song that you believe would appeal to everyone, regardless of tastes in music and regardless of gaming history. This has nothing to do with the notion that video game music is superior or inferior as a "genre", but what piece you feel dispels the latter stereotype.

I would pick... Western Wind from Wild Arms 2nd Advanced, from the medley. My friend listened to it yesterday and she said "hey this song is very good!"

I also occasionally play OCremix music because they are more friendly to non-vgm lovers -__-.

It's impossible to find one song that everyone likes even among people who like video game music. That's why stuff like the Best Song Contest exists. And even when we find a winner, there's guaranteed to be a number of people who will hate the song with all their being.

In general though, I find that casual music listeners have a particularly strong anti-nonvocal bias (while VGM fans typically have the opposite). To them, anything without lyrics is boring, and listening to it is a waste of their time. That's why you have a hard time selling the young 'uns on classical music.

Don't worry, you're not going to be banned.

Depends on whether the person has good taste. Most young people nowadays seem to listen mostly to shitty rap music and R'n'B (not to say that there's something inherently wrong with those genres, but you know), so why even bother? If I had to choose, it would probably be the soundtrack of Chrono Cross, particularly all the Home and Another tracks. If a person hates that, then there's probably no way they'll like game music in general.

Yeah I get what you meant, and my answer stands. I see what you're trying to achieve but that is still aknowledging the idea that VGM defines a musical genre more than a vague media category.

The answer to anyone saying "VGM sucks" should be "VGM isnt a genre you ignorant fucktard". It's just the same as saying "Film Soundtrack sucks", and even a bit worse, I'd say.

Then only I guess you could prove the idiot his mistake by having him listen to a couple really different VGM tunes. In that cae, I'd advice some very melodic chiptune, followed by an orchestral piece, an heavy rock one and a generic techno one to finish.

And yeah you'll never find a song everyone likes. Except maybe the Neorude 2 Last Battle theme ... wait that's just me and Teioh... =(

Well, and me...And the 80 people or so who voted it up to 6th place in last year's BSC. :biggrin:

Rest of it's well put.

As for me...Erm, if I had to pick just one I would use in general for non-gamers...Probably "Wind of Phantom" from Suikoden 5, since it hits all of my melodic sweet spots JUST right, the orchestra performance is good and the rock elements aren't intrusive enough to draw complaints (at least I'd hope not). If I were ever desperate enough to go out of my way to blindly impress someone, I'd probably put my faith in that track.

Although several people I know absolutely love Parodius music (particularly Parodius Perfect Selection). Not hard to see why it would have plenty of non-gamer appeal...

Normally, I'd pick something that is most likely familiar to anybody. Like the overworld theme to SMB, Ken's Stage from Street Fighter, or A type song from the NES version of Tetris. But if I were to pick only one song to convince a non-game music listener... That really would depend on that person's taste.
If it were my sister and since I know she likes some classical, R&B, and alternative rock I think I'd pick a track like The Legendary Theme from Gitaroo Man OST.
If this person were a all-around oldies fan like my father I might be inclinded to pick something from the 8-bit era. Probably one of the fan-made tetris themes I have but only because I know he used to play tetris a lot when I was young.

Other than that, I just go all or nothing and give people a dose of Death from Above from Jets'N'Guns. If they can't stand that they will be hard pressed to find anything else that's tolerable in my playlist.

Aeris's Theme has worked nicely for me in the past. My friend loved the piece, and it was funny watching her reaction after I told her it was from a video game. "But video game music isn't supposed to be good; it's supposed to be all ugly electronic-y sounding." :(

Aard hit the nail on the head here. Lots of my favorite VGM tracks fall under "easy listening" pract near >_> I'm a very tame fellow.

If you wanted impressive orchestra/instrumentals, I'd recommend some tracks from Albert Odyssey Gaiden (#062 in Best Song Contest! Watch for it! =O). Anything by Yasunori Mitsuda would drive a point home.

But lots of VGM falls under much more tame music than folks prefer. I doubt I could talk anyone into listening to it... Except for maybe a friend or two who enjoy anime. Anyhow, this still remains a rather odd hobby/musical taste.

Once had my iPod out once on-campus and it was playing stuff from "Gamingforce Forums Best Song Contest". A friend grabbed my iPod *without even asking* to see what I was playing. They were all like "Gamingforce? The fuck?"

Dunno why, but I felt quite embarassed ;_;

I've already come out to my friends. It takes a while, but eventually they learn to accept you for who you are.

I have a friend who really wasn't really into the gaming scene. I was listening to Shadow Hearts OST (of all things) with her present and she just suddenly asked me to copy the cds for her to listen.

Sometimes weird things happen. Forcing someone to like something (anything, for that matter) is not the right way to do it, though.

We're talking about music tastes here! You make it sound like I'm trying to confess I like other guys or somethin' =p

((Read your response in that context. I lol'd, seriously))

I think that was the joke.

Ahaw haw haw ;_; I just noticed. I suck. Long morning~