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Comment by ekianjo | Hacker News Reader

Don't claim copyright infringement on uploaded video game soundtracks to YouTube (except Square Enix because their Final Fantasy OST still sells big)

Because most video game music is crap, really. Of course, there are exceptions, but nothing that would really sell anyway if they were marketing it.

Don't send DMCA notices to people who remix their content (make mods)

Huh... you haven't heard about Nintendo I guess? They just closed the site of someone who made a Mario clone (a 20+ years old game) in the browser, and they also sued Great Giana Sisters in the 80s because it was too similar to Mario.

Allow unofficial communities to sprout up using their IP's name in the domain name url

I can't remember which site right now, but I clearly remember Sony or other big players making it difficult to use some of their brands as domain names.

It's clearly not as nice an industry as you seem to be considering it.

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Nintendo is and has always been an outlier when it comes to clamping down on "their" IP. This is the company that tried to sue Blockbuster for renting games (the fallout from this suit is why rental games didn't come with the official manual). They also tried to sue Game Genie out of existence. If you were bothered by the Super Mario JavaScript thing or Nintendo leading the charge on this YouTube drama, it's nothing new.

Sure, yet Nintendo is still widely loved by the same people who seem to complain about their behavior. Talk about Stockholm syndrome :)

1) Are you really going to make a hot-air blanket statement like "Most video game music is crap"? You do realize that even mid-budget games like Resident Evil 5 & Remember Me (both with really good soundtracks) record using Hollywood sized orchestras.

2) A "CLONE" of a game is different. Especially when you clone an iconic game that Nintendo still sells.

It's clearly not as evil an industry as you seem to be considering it.

1) it's not because you record with an orchestra that it's not crap, sorry. Music is not just about how much money you throw at it, if there's no art in it, it's just crap. And when I say "there's exceptions" I dont know how you can say i make a blanket statement.

2) Sorry, but a 20+ year old game should be in the public domain, period. Why do we apply copyrights which are longer than what we apply on drugs? Sorry but I consider that especially Evil, in the same way that Mickey Mouse is still not in public domain even though it's been 75 years+ since its first appearance.

>if you are an extremely talented musician, it's not in videogames that you'll get [...] the best salaries

>Music is not just about how much money you throw at it

That doesn't make much sense.

>Music is not just about how much money you throw at it

I meant that because someone else mentioned the usage of orchestra as a sign of good music. It is not.

>And when I say "there's exceptions" I dont know how you can say i make a blanket statement.

Honestly, calling most videogame music crap is a bit ignorant imo (even though you mention "exceptions"). A lot of videogames, even minor ones and some indies, have amazing music and OST. This is because sound is one of the most important aspects of game development, even though most people don't really understand that.

It is up there, style-wise, with graphics and gameplay. A good OST can make or break a game and it's surprising how unnoticed this goes until you find a game with actual crap/out of place music, and then you notice.

I often listen to several game soundtracks and I own a few albums just of pure videogame music, there is a huge market from fans (and even non-fans) directly buying music CDs of videogame OSTs. Plus they are often sold with collector's editions and similar.

Let's give a few examples of games with great music (great, not just "good", for most of them are at least good and far from "crap"): Final Fantasy, Halo, Monkey Island, Zelda, Civilization, Silent Hill (by far my favorite), Castlevania, Portal, The Elders Scrolls, Metal Gear...

I could go on, but you get the point[1]. As a musician I can say for sure that game soundtracks are among the most entertaining and fun to play, there's a lot of people on youtube recording covers and re-arrangements of famous game OSTs.

Really, claiming that "most videogame music is crap" is just being ignorant.

[1] http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/nine-legitimately-a...

> Really, claiming that "most videogame music is crap" is just being ignorant.

It just means I have probably higher standards than you have when it comes to appreciating music. I've been playing video games for 30 years+, so I wouldn't consider myself ignorant, I just find most video games music very dull and uninspiring.

Yes, definitely dull and uninspiring /sarcasm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_music

But yeah, to each their own I guess. I'm just a bit riled up because calling it "crap" is a very offensive and ignorant statement. I've seen much much worse dull and uninspiring "crap" being sold commercially as pop music, and that's a huge industry nowadays.

Anyhow to lighten up the mood, here, have some great music that might (hopefully) make you change idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlNhwnssA8g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88_PGUa69aE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4BP42FzKRI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LB7LZZGpkw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMhcyzQ7mKw (I could go on for hours, better not spam the thread though)

What's ignorant is your belief that the videos you've linked would change the parent's mind. It's all competent derivative tripe or sub-competent derivative tripe.

It's not offensive to call crap music crap. You should stop trying to be offended at things and try growing up and accepting that the universe is full of people with opinions you don't like.

I wanna choke you for bitching (#1) but I want to hug you for complaint (#2). Stop it already!

#1 There's as much art to an effective & supportive game theme music as there is to the mind numbing pop "music" that sells millions.

#2 GOD YES. The sheer amount of anti innovation power these companies hold is offensively revolting.

Haha ok I'll stop here :)

#1 I just want to say that I own a good number of video games OST and that there are some rare gems, but frankly in my music collection the video game's part is a small, small minority. I think people here reacted strongly to my statement because when you think about good video game music, sure you can come with great examples (I love the OST for Castlevania Symphony of the Night, for example), but in the thousands of games I have played since my childhood, I can't seriously say, with a straight face, that there's more art in there than anywhere else. A good number of video games have been (and remain) sub-par in terms of production quality, and just like you don't have that many good stories/scripts in video games, you don't have many good musics either in the industry as a whole. Sure, you can have a catchy tune here and there, but is that really good just because it sticks in your head? I'll let you ponder.

Concerning videogame music being crap:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_Law

> ninety percent of everything is crap.

Ninety percent of all music is crap. In that good 10 percent there is some videogame music.

I also think that, although there are some exceptions, most videogame music is environmental or helping to establish a mood. This makes it very contextual to the "game level" where it plays.

> This makes it very contextual to the "game level" where it plays.

Totally agree, that's why VG music cannot be considered real music, most of the time. It would not make sense to listen to it outside of the game context.

Music production quality can be very good but the music itself can still be crap.

Let's see:

Zelda and Mario series, pretty much every Square game, Halo, Star Wars games (though that's cheating), Minecraft, Castlevania games, Skyrim, Journey, Bastion, and many others.

Video games have about as much chance of having awesome sound tracks as other media such as cinematic films.

You do realize that the games you quoted represent 0.0001% of all games being marketed ? (regardless of popularity). I could just say you are being biased.

Besides, if you are an extremely talented musician, it's not in videogames that you'll get widespread recognition nor the best salaries either. Can you name any of the musicians who worked on the games you mentioned, by memory ? Good try.

So of course, people who are talented tend to move to other industries.

Why is popularity not a factor? It should be.

And do you seriously expect me to list a significant fraction of all games to satisfy your needs? That's ridiculous.

Here's my claim: a significant fraction of the most popular games have excellent sound tracks. I provided evidence to back up my claims, you have provided none to back up yours.

Nobuo Uematsu, Lifeformed, Ben Prunty

Do movies have awful music in general, just because there are lots of shitty movies and movies with a music budget of at least $1000 represent .0001% of all movies?

> Can you name any of the musicians who worked on the games you mentioned, by memory ? Good try.

That's a bit unfair. Movies tend to put the composer's name in big letters right before the movie starts, while in games the name usually comes "buried" in the credits only.

Also I personally find that the best soundtracks come from Japanese games, and I'm not very good at dealing with Japanese games.

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