I like to procrastinate. I’m supposed to be studying for finals right now, but…I don’t want to. It’s not my fault; there are just so many far more interesting things to do than read about the 4th Crusade.
So when I sense my eyes are starting to cross from all that crap (usually after reading/writing one or two sentences), I turn to the internet for some entertainment. There are some cool things on this internet. For instance:
That is a video from youtube of some of the characters from the Kingdom Hearts series singing the “Mahna Mahna” song popularized by the Muppets. Sure it’s a little stupid, but 1) that song is awesome, and 2) it’s a good way to waste two and a half minutes that one should be spending doing whatever amount of mind numbing work one has to do over the course of a day.
So, every so often I’ll pop in here to give you all some liberation from the drudgeries of work/school/child raising/whatever. So gather ’round, and let’s explore what the internet has to offer by way of classic video games.
Many games of yesteryear have produced some amazing soundtracks. This column’s namesake for instance sported one that was particularly legendary. Here are some sites offering either the original music from classic games or fan representations of it.
http://www.vgmusic.com – Vgmusic.com offers several thousand fan made MIDI’s of music from an extraordinary amount of games, nearly every game imaginable. These MIDI’s range in quality from “Hey, that sounds like the real thing,” to “WTF?” There are also some pretty cool remixes of several songs, such as slower or faster versions, heavy metal versions, and , my personal favorite, a jazz remix of Dr. Mario’s music from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
http://www.gamingfm.com – If MIDI’s aren’t your thing, here’s one with streams of the actual songs, straight from the game. The difference between this one and vgmusic.com is that this site offers streaming playlists of songs from a wide array of games, including different classic and modern playlists. If you register at the site, you can add your favorites to your own playlist and request that those songs be streamed next.
http://www.bluelaguna.net – This site offers original soundtracks from many RPG’s for stream right on your computer. Though the selection is limited to only RPG’s, that’s pretty much where some of the best music comes from. Like Gamingfm.com, you can add songs to your own playlist for easy access. I recommend giving the Chrono Trigger OST a run through, as that is particularly kickass.
So there are three sites for you to enjoy some great music, whether you have a minute to listen to them or not. Enjoy, and if you have any other music sites, or sites or videos of any kind, feel free to share them at the forums. Until next time, I really do have to get back to work. Thanks for reading!