Shmup Soundtracks - Worth Getting Early?

marcus12024 · Post by **marcus12024** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 2:52 am

Okay, to make a bit more sense, what I'm wondering is if all shmup soundtracks end up being rare? I'm thinking of ordering the Mushihime Sama soundtrack while it's still available, but was just curious if OSTs that now command $100+ were originally $30-40? Or were they rare right from day one?

BUHA · Post by **BUHA** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:16 am

Why are they so expensive in the first place? why does anyone wanna listen to them anyway? It's all retarded anyway. The game is cheaper than the damn music.

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:33 am

Many, but not all, shooting game soundtracks become rare.

Most of the soundtracks I can think of only saw one print run. A few Taito-developed (and occaisionally -related) shooters are exceptions to this:

Darius [series] soundtracks were rereleased in a large boxset.
Ray [series] soundtracks will be rereleased in a similar boxset soon.
Mushihimesama (both times with figurine)

There may be others and from other companies, but those immediately spring to mind.

Being rare does not always equal a higher price in the collector's market. There probably aren't many copies of Aerofighters/Sonic Wings 3 OST, but I've never seen one sell, either.

Batsugun OST and OutZone OST can go for $20-40US each, but Tatsujin/Truxton OST will often go for $50 or more. Balance scarcity with demand and you may find the next Dangun Feveron OST.
Most of the shooting game soundtracks I've known start at a price of $20-40 (depending on year, company, exchange rates, etc.). The Mushi OST is an exception, though it does have the Reko figure.

As far as buying Mushihimesama OST specifically goes, I'd suggest you buy it if you want it, not buy it if you just want to get rich. If you want to increase the possibility it can be worth something, buy it and never open it. :)

BUHA: people will pay it and it's an easy extra profit generator for the development company.

umi · Post by **umi** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:39 am

The game is cheaper, because it's always WAY more common. Unfortunately, the western game music scene is, well, close to non-existant. With older soundtracks, it's a collector thing, to be sure (and naturally prices are steep), but later games have extremely listenable music, and for a reasonable retail price. If you like music from a game, and the soundtrack is available, just buy it, and support the artist. Most of the shmup stuff will probably go up anyway...

BUHA wrote:Why are they so expensive in the first place? why does anyone wanna listen to them anyway? It's all retarded anyway. The game is cheaper than the damn music.

p.s. Oo the other poster, nothing is rare from day one :P Something can be coveted from day one, but not exactly rare... meaning it's easy to re-sell.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 1:39 pm

Moved this to Shmups Chat.

SAM · Post by **SAM** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 2:18 pm

incognoscente wrote:As far as buying Mushihimesama OST specifically goes, I'd suggest you buy it if you want it, not buy it if you just want to get rich. If you want to increase the possibility it can be worth something, buy it and never open it.

Yes, that's right. If you want to make money invest your money at the stock market. Investing on the OST is far too risky.

The price of the OST is driven up by its low print run, but if there is Taiwan's version exist. Their prices would drop like stone. e.g. the OST of FF, Zelda, DragonQuest and some fighting/dancing game. So far the OST in shumps does on induce enough demand for to warlent Taiwan's version.

And yes, if you want the OST, buy it asap. Later, you might not able to acquire it even if you willing to pay a higher price.

marcus12024 · Post by **marcus12024** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 2:47 pm

incognoscente wrote:As far as buying Mushihimesama OST specifically goes, I'd suggest you buy it if you want it, not buy it if you just want to get rich. If you want to increase the possibility it can be worth something, buy it and never open it.

I should have been clearer in my initial post - I wasn't inquiring about trying to make money off reselling these things (I keep nearly everything game-related that I buy if at all possible), I was just wondering if it was likely that I'd end up paying $100+ if I waited for a while. I don't have a lot of extra money right now, so would prefer to wait, but if these things usually sell out fast, I should probably just order one soon.

I'm not the type of guy to buy stuff, sit on it for years, then resell it. I'd make more money working overtime at my job than trying to sell old game-related items

That, and when I have multiples of something, I'm much more likely to "trade" them with friends for a few drinks and a burger

Thanks for the info everyone - I've been into game soundtracks for quite a while, just not shmup soundtracks. As for why anyone would want them - I enjoy having game-related items, and I've got a few friends who are into music, and trying to get into creating game soundtracks for a living. So it's for enjoyment, and also research. At the very least, when I'm studying or programming I love to have music that lacks words, and that reminds me of playing shmups.

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 3:59 pm

There is also an ebay seller, champs_des_pines, who usually have a good assortment of soundtracks. With a bit of patience, you can also find shops which import them (any names?I bet Incognescente knows

). As a personal experience, most of Zuntata's soundtracks are between 1,5k and 3k yen, which becomes about 35$ and 50$ after finding someone buying them for you on yahoo.jp (i.e. people like rinkya, etc). Not cheap, but that's the final solution (i'd first check on cocoebiz, for instance). In general, they're not "cheap" (i.e. less than 10$), but you can find a surprising high number of OSTs below the 30$ range.

visuatrox · Post by **visuatrox** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:07 pm

BUHA wrote:Why are they so expensive in the first place? why does anyone wanna listen to them anyway? It's all retarded anyway. The game is cheaper than the damn music.

Well basically all Japanese CD's cost that much, and the Japanese pay more for the games too

The Soundtrack CD's often do not include the exact same music. In games the music usually is cut to pieces, and you rarely hear some of the tracks. Soundtracks CD's often also contain arranged tracks, and tracks not used in the games.

Yea buying the CD's did not make sense to me either at first, until I bought a few and noticed the coolness of them

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:49 pm

Yup, I would buy the Mushi soundtrack now, I'm sure it will become hard to find once it's sold out, and that happens with a lot of japanese game soundtracks. Some of the older Castlevania CDs can cost up to $200 now.

Nemo · Post by **Nemo** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 10:31 pm

In the case of Mushi, it won't nearly be as rare as most OSTs because it has a relatively large print-run (it's also not very good IMO), so I don't see this one ending up near $100+ (and actually there are only a few OSTs that genuinely go for this value). Now, as with most OSTs, the price won't end up going down much, if at all, so if you wait, you can expect to pay about the same or a little more in the future. So if you do want it, you might as well buy it now and get yourself a new one.

marcus12024 · Post by **marcus12024** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 10:35 pm

Sounds good, thanks for all the advice/thoughts. I've placed the order for mine

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 10:34 am

BUHA wrote:Why are they so expensive in the first place? why does anyone wanna listen to them anyway? It's all retarded anyway. The game is cheaper than the damn music.

DoDonPachi
Espgaluda
Einhander
Ikaruga
Psyvariar 1&2
Parodius series
Iridion II
Sanvein
Nanostray
Thunderforce series

there's 10 reasons that you're wrong right there. IMHO, shmups make for some bitchin' driving music.

icycalm · Post by **icycalm** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:14 pm

The Mushi soundtrack is crap anyways.

Except the first Stage tune. Maybe.

Onken · Post by **Onken** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:26 pm

where do you look to find these soundtraks for sale??

i`m after the soundtraks from tiger-heli / slap fight -- can anybody help??

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:49 pm

Onken wrote:where do you look to find these soundtraks for sale??

i`m after the soundtraks from tiger-heli / slap fight -- can anybody help??

Mushihimesama OST and some other soundtracks from time to time can be found at Play-Asia. For another selection of typically newer soundtracks, try CocoeBiz.

Tiger-Heli soundtrack is on the Taito GSM 2 disc (also called GSM Taito 2). This release also has the Hishou Zame/Flying Shark and Kyukyoku Tiger/Twin Cobra OSTs. Unfortunately, each game has one track with all of its music sandwiched in.

This release shows up on eBay often enough that I'll suggest you look there. :) One will probably be relisted by champ_des_pins in the coming weeks. If the price is too much (probably about $45US when/if he relists it), you may want to wait it out several weeks. Keep an eye on it in case someone bids, but try to let it go for an extra listing or two to keep your price down. If you do wait it out, don't try to push your luck past ~$30 ;)
I've dealt with champ_des_pins several times and can vouch that he's a great guy. Bear in mind that some of the soundtracks he sells are very old, so pristine quality is hard to come by.

Slap Fight I've never looked for, so I can't be much help there. I'm not sure it had a soundtrack release though.