Ryu ga Gotoku 5 demo up on JP PSN

[drauch]

It's kinda funny, because you sound exactly like all the die-hard Shenmue fans, only with RgG. "I like it because of all the stuff you can do! I like fighting and learning moves. I like the story better."

[Marc]

I think that was the difference for me. I didn't particularly enjoy the fighting in Shenmue, but it didn't seem a huge part of the game for the most part, as opposed to the Yakuza I played.

[GaijinPunch]

Shenmue is one of the few game soundtracks that doesn't make me throw up on myself.

[Strider77]

What about the panzer dragoon series? Did it cause vomit time?

[Jonathan Ingram]

Shenmue is one of the few game soundtracks that doesn't make me throw up on myself.

I don`t know what games you`ve been playing that have vomit inducing soundtracks, but I could easily name at least fifty titles from this and previous console generations that feature much better OSTs than Shenmue. Now the orchestra versions of Shenmue`s two main themes are absolutely beautiful and I could listen to them over and over, but the actual in-game music... The best thing I could say about it is that it`s not annoying.

Speaking of Ryu ga Gotoku`s soundtracks, the first game`s was so so, but the rest are great. RgG3`s OST is in my opinion one of the best Sega`s ever produced. It has the kind of music I`ve always wanted Virtua Fighter to have.

Now there`s a good excuse to post some compositions from Shenmue, Ryu ga Gotoku and(now that Strider mentioned it) Panzer Dragoon:

Shenmue - Main Theme(orchestra version)
Shenmue - Shenhua Theme(orchestra version)
Shenmue - Shenhua Theme(orchestra version/vocal)
Ryu ga Gotoku 3 - Lyricism Without Tears
Ryu ga Gotoku 3 - Clay Doll On The Cradle
Ryu ga Gotoku 3 - Independence For Violence
Ryu ga Gotoku 3 - Fly
Panzer Dragoon - Main Theme
Panzer Dragoon - Flight
Panzer Dragoon Saga - Sora Mi Areru Ec Sancitu
Panzer Dragoon Orta - Anu Orta Veniya

[Rob]

The best song in Shenmue is obviously Tomato Mart.

[Strider77]

The best song in Shenmue is obviously Tomato Mart.

Well duh.... goes without saying.

[GaijinPunch]

What about the panzer dragoon series? Did it cause vomit time?

Nope... definitely didn't.

but I could easily name at least fifty titles from this and previous console generations that feature much better OSTs than Shenmue.

IMHO, there aren't 50 games in history w/ mentionable soundtracks... much less better ones than Shenmue. I'm a music snob, I admit it. I'm okay with this though. The same always went for my anime hobby, too. Watched the shit out of everything but never, ever understood the music side.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Watched the shit out of everything but never, ever understood the music side.

It's like saying you don't understand technicolor or music in TV ads. Well, I do - those things are there to have a sensual impact on you. Doesn't matter whether you notice or like it. Those things are hardly ever meant to be "understood" anyway. Think A Clockwork Orange.

[trap15]

those things are there to have a sensual impact on you.

[GaijinPunch]

It's like saying you don't understand technicolor or music in TV ads.

...or that I have much higher standards in music than J-pop (or any pop, but definitely J) can offer. I was watching late 80's/early 90's. Akira and Honneamise were some type of bizarre, timeless moment when the producers threw away the cookie cutter for a moment and got real. Then... back to generica.

[Hagane]

There are far more than 50 games with mentionable soundtracks. Unless you are a classical music expert, in which case I would understand how you would find everything else low standard.

[KAI]

Too many

[Obiwanshinobi]

I didn't watch "everything", but I heard many other things than J-pop there. Everything with that Bulgarian polyphony (Ghost in the Shell, Xenogears), for example. Athough in anime and video games it's usually very mild, I can't imagine a culture where it would make for pop music/easy listening (my sister listened to such choirs extensively while we lived under one roof, so I would know).

[GaijinPunch]

Unless you are a classical music expert, in which case I would understand how you would find everything else low standard.

Expert? No, but classically trained. I played piano actively and competitively from age 7 through 19. University work and partying eventually got in the way. Wish I stuck with it, but I'm okay with DJing and dicking around with a DAW now.

Everything with that Bulgarian polyphony (Ghost in the Shell, Xenogears), for example.

I own the Ghost in the Shell PSX game soundtrack on vinyl! That's not really 'game music' though, now is it? They hired real techno producers. Obviously there exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, even large budget projects just recycled the same sparkly crap over and over. I guess it's appropriate since the stories are mostly the same, too.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Lately I've been listening to Saturn games played as audio discs a lot. Gun Frontier, Tomb Raider and AMOK are very fine albums and I'm pretty sure in Japan, video games music is produced with album release in mind, so what's the difference, game or not?
AMOK reminds me of Euro demoscene the way Burnout (the first one) did earlier this year.
Most Jesper Kyd works I heard practically are European "computer music". Then there are 16-bit oddities like Crying: Aseimei Sensou and Apidya, then Unreal, (the first) Deus Ex, Half-Life1&2... What exactly is gamey about this music, other than maybe the hardware synthesising it in case of ancient console games?
Heck, I like Shadow of the Colossus music better listened to as the album rather than in the game itself (Sky Odyssey, on the other hand, is where that composer's work shines).

[GaijinPunch]

video games music is produced with album release in mind, so what's the difference, game or not?

Music made for a game isn't made to tell a story. It's made to help tell a story. Similar to movie soundtracks. Some are worth listening to on their own, but more often than not, it's very obvious they are an accompaniment.

I think 8 1/2 stated it best in one of the threads in the main area. "I've never sat there and thought, 'The party just didn't get going until I put on the Stage 4 theme...'". Haha.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Gun Frontier played as audio CD sounds as narrative to me as instrumental music can. I'm pretty sure that windy loop isn't accidentally the last track. I'd say it marks THE point where game music earned independence, without losing its illustrative qualities.

[Mortificator]

Music made for a game isn't made to tell a story. It's made to help tell a story. Similar to movie soundtracks. Some are worth listening to on their own, but more often than not, it's very obvious they are an accompaniment.

I think 8 1/2 stated it best in one of the threads in the main area. "I've never sat there and though, 'The party just didn't get going until I put on the Stage 4 theme...'". Haha.

I like video game music, but I'm not sure I can judge it objectively. Awesome pieces are associated with awesome game moments, even when I hear them again outside of the game. The same music might sound like crap to an unbiased ear.

On the other hand, I haven't thought "the party just didn't get going until I put Mozart's 25th symphony on," and I'm pretty sure that's not crap. I'm wondering if party music isn't also accompaniment, you know, for dancing and partying. Along those lines, the problem with video game music at a party wouldn't be that it was designed as accompaniment, but that it was designed as accompaniment for fighting.

I should think about this some more.

[GaijinPunch]

On the other hand, I haven't thought "the party just didn't get going until I put Mozart's 25th symphony on," and I'm pretty sure that's not crap. I'm wondering if party music isn't also accompaniment, you know, for dancing and partying..

Some is, some isn't. Most of what I buy is meant to be layered (mixed), sometimes in 3's, and that's generally what I do. While each piece is almost always boring to flat out listen to (I think, anyway) the entire mix (spanning a few hours sometimes) is what needs to be soaked in. It's the perfect example of the whole is more than the sum of it's parts. But at the same time, I usually use the entire mix to go w/ something else... exercise, partying, doing lines off of someone's ass.

[KAI]

You guys should listen arranged soundtracks. 80% of the OSTs are overrated crap.

[Obiwanshinobi]

100% of this post is true.

[Strider77]

doing lines off of someone's ass.

They roll like that in Japan?

[GaijinPunch]

doing lines off of someone's ass.

They roll like that in Japan?

I'm convinced that if you have the money, it is here for you. You just will have to wade through some seedy places to get there. Heard about a place where you got to fuck the animal before they cooked it for you. Not sure if it was true though. Never made it there.

[drauch]

doing lines off of someone's ass.

They roll like that in Japan?

I'm convinced that if you have the money, it is here for you. You just will have to wade through some seedy places to get there. Heard about a place where you got to fuck the animal before they cooked it for you. Not sure if it was true though. Never made it there.

Kickstarter to get you to do it?

[GaijinPunch]

Kickstarter to get you to do it?

Unfortunately for the community, I'm a vegetarian. I do eat seafood though, but I don't think I could bring myself to stick my dick in a fish or octopus. They just aren't the same as mammals.

[drauch]

Well, shucks. There goes my Christmas.

[Strider77]

Unfortunately for the community, I'm a vegetarian.

Still, lines of coke off asses don't break any vegetarian rules.

[Teufel_in_Blau]

Poor Jonathan... he just wanted to talk about the Yakuza 5 demo and all he got is "Shenmue FTW!", drugs on butts and fucking fish.

I guess such is life in the OT section. We will never manage here to talk about the Playstation 4 either, at least Strider77 made the best out of his thread.

[Rob]

he just wanted to talk about the Yakuza 5 demo and all he got is "Shenmue FTW!",

If that's the case, shouldn't have put that line about Shenmue in the first post.