I guess I better explain what i mean. Why do you like VGM? there are questions alot want to read about to learn how you came to love VGM
When was the first time, First game, That made you say "Wow I really love this kind of music"
here is my story

MY VGM HISTORY


For me i can remember music in games way back to Mario. I can remember That doesn't mean that I noticed it. I think the first time i anticipated wanting to hear a song from a game it was 15 years ago in 1994 when killer instinct first came out. I aways wanted to turn the snes on and hear that intro song when the beat would kick in and say "Killer Instinct" and when earthworm jim that came out that same year was playing i always wanted to hear the song from new junk city from then on my taste in VGM was in an exploratory stage I remember in 1996 when super mario 64 came out i loved lava lands music i used to just putt the controller down and listen to it for as long as i wanted to. then gradually my taste became an utter obsession. Now I dident play the game much since it was not mine at the tim but in 1997 Einh�nder was released that music made a wanting rage for vgm .When Half-Life came out i was already hooked on vgm and that fueled my fire especially when metal gear solid and Bruce Willis's apocalypse came out in 1998. Now i am not going to say i am that cool as to know there were previous games before the ps1's metal gear but i did play them when i got a chance. when i was young my mother could only afford a couple games for those systems. Anyway with half life and metal gear fueling my obsession i wanted more and more any game i played i wanted music to it "any game witch music i liked" especially from the 90's like Homeworld (Still to this day is basically my favorite type of game music "Tribal middle eastern ambient electric") Nightmare Creatures, Silent Hill(SIlent hill gave birth to my evil wanting side of creepy ambient noises horror and sadness in music), Dark Stone, along so many others

WHY I LIKE VGM?

There is a reason i like it so much and finally I found a way to putt it into words now if it I say this to non Vgm fans they will not understand true vgm fans will understand

When i was growing up I played videos games Now through your life you have memories from child hood now understand after playing video games in your life as much as i did they have there own memories now here is the odd thing alot of the time i remember something like from 15 yeas ago the game i was playing at the time fused in with those memories keeping whatever i was doing in my life alive in my mind through video games and the music was always there in its subtle way so games and music are always and have always been in my life cementing its position in my life as my favorite music

VIDEO GAME MUSIC IS NOT ALL ALIKE WHY DO YOU SPEAK OF IT AS ONE TYPE? WHY DO YOU LIKE ALL THE TYPES YOU LIKE?

Well that is a good question it seems to me that each game i played gave the music from it a little history or understanding of that music now given not all vgm music is alike the only thing that keeps them all together is that they are from games so that time and experience with the music in the game made me love it plus im extremely eclectic

That is my story please tell your stories to all of s i personally love to hear how game music took over your life and how it has affected you
answer these questions

YOUR VGM HISTORY
WHY YOU LIKE VGM?
VIDEO GAME MUSIC IS NOT ALL ALIKE WHY DO YOU SPEAK OF IT AS ONE TYPE? WHY DO YOU LIKE ALL THE TYPES YOU LIKE?

Pardon anything that sounds sort of broken up, I'm not so good at storytelling ^^;
MY VGM HISTORY

I'd have to say I first ran into VGM back in...well I can't remember exactly, all I know I can say is the very first nintendo (aka regular nintendo) has just been released. The Mario World overture tends to stick, made my first experience 'bouncy' so to speak and I believe between that and Jurassic Park on the nintendo is where my craze began.

I'm not really sure when it my VGM craze began to strengthen...I would have to say when I got the Snes, games I recall having played- Super Mario World (naturally), Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Safari, Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Super Metroid..plenty of others I cannot currently recall but I am most certain that these 'sowed the seeds' for my VGM addiction, having had many 'pause and sit and listen to for hour(s)' and record to cassette moments. I believe I was around 9 or 10 when this happened...

I can remember passing hours listening to Yoshi's island fortress interior and boss music..well most of it actually, same with (literally) all of the above.

I remember my mother giving me quizical looks for some time due to renting the same game several times just to listen to the music <.<. So she just decided to make it easier on the cash and buy it.

It's rather difficult to give direct datelines for the history, suffice to say. Since young childhood and still going strong today, it will probably never end.

WHY I AM ADDICTED TO VGM?

Like the above, VGM is something will live with you if you listened to it in your childhood as a happy memory (and some frustrating times) if nothing else. For me it goes a bit (okay alot) further.

Usually when I am feeling down I listen to VGM to cheer me up or take my mind off of the upsetting thoughts. VGM has been a good pickup and inspiring point through my life and still is. Say I want to make a 3D model of some sort, as odd as it may sound, the music helps to focus.

It also helps me think of story plots to help some of my friends with, sets the right mood for some things...such as Resident Evil Outbreaks main theme or its "Waterway of Darkness", giving me that burst of passionate..uhm..desperation I guess you could say, sort of the "The sad way things turned out and could have been avoided if..." And then to finish that I listen to extermination :D (the theme when Racoon City is 'whiped from the map'."

Then for the war stories or when I am playing a RTS and Armed Assault, I find myself listening to Ace Combat music. I have yet to find a good airial assault song for the rain against a fortified base quite like Lit Fuse (from Ace Combat 5) and Fortress (Another level theme, the themes are also the names of the levels)

When I want a good mood raiser I usually listen to some mario music..nothing puts a bounce in your step quite like the old nes mario world overworld theme...only to remember missing that ledge by about one pixel and falling to your death. *shakes fist*

VIDEO GAME MUSIC IS NOT ALL ALIKE WHY DO YOU SPEAK OF IT AS ONE TYPE? WHY DO YOU LIKE ALL THE TYPES YOU LIKE?

I agree and with the above that the only thing that keeps them together is that they are in video games. Each game has its own special feel and some have many within their own. I would have to say VGM is a genre in its own really, branching out into several different flavors for the person to enjoy.

It's easier to say VGM rather then...well...VGM rock, VGM classical, VGM orchestral, VGM 8-bit, VGM horror, VGM epic and so on, and in the end they are all Video Game Music.

I like most of my types because they hold some sway over me or serve some purpose, wether it is to help me feel better or think up story lines, inspire or just do something (other then actually yaknow, go out and meet people). Some things are hard to describe as to why I enjoy them, VG music just makes me happy and effects my moods like nothing else really, it's my drug.

i like video game music because it helps define the kind of mood i am in at the time, PERFECT example, whenever me and my friends go to huge events, i always listen to the jazzy NYC theme from Street fighter 3, (love it!!) whenever i am writing stories, (my future dream) i use the music to get into the story, like when the police are in one part, the music from the 1st stage of contra 3, its just the feel of it....its cool.

WoW, awesome thread. Well, my VGM history is kinda huge i think. But, it all started when i was 13 (i think) as i were playing Zelda and Metroid. I noticed the great music it was used in the game, so i got somehow hooked up and started searching on the net for it. Then it just got further on, as i discovered the amazing Homeworld Composer Paul Rauskay i started to continue my investigate for more great composers. Then i found my all time favorite composer, Jeremy Soule and then i just kept going to the end.

I love VGM to death, my MP3 player is almost filled with VGM, i listen to it with honor and faith! It is a amazing experience that you can't let go, VGM are inspiring, true art. I wished it was some sort of Mainstream, that would be so awesome. But i am happy that i convinced many of my friends to listen to VGM, and they are doing it. It is just a great influence i have been doing for a long time.

Man there is so much to tell, but i guess i'll stick to the short stories. Hopes to hear more from you guys. ;)

Hmm my VGM history started a couple of years ago when i had paused the game i was playing (Threads of Fate) and gone out of the room to get some food. As i was coming back in, the music just sort of caught me and i spent the next two hours trying to find it online!

Actually thinking back, when i had my Nintendo 64 and was playing Mario, I liked the music so much i learned how to play it on the piano. The crazy child i was, lol.

Why do i like VGM? Well it can be so upbeat and change my mood entirely.
It's also great music to work out to, haha.
I like the slow VGM too, however.
I like to listen to a certain song from Halo before i fall asleep, its so relaxing and soothing! (Even though if you think about the lyrics, they are quite...evil)

I was about 5 or 6 when I first got my SNES and that's when I first started liking game music. I liked the tunes I heard coming out of my TV when I played the games and they were too catchy not to notice them. It wasn't until Rockman X that I knew I was a fan of game music.

Then came the internet. VGmusic.com! I could hear my favorite tunes without playing the game and I loved it, despite they didn't sound as good sometimes. From there I was linked to some interesting sites such as SSTrax that had MOD format re-creations of some of my favorite tunes. The other sites had MP3s! My first walk into hearing game music played as it was through it's system.

Finding the stuff I did have before I was told about GH was like trying to find needles spread out in a jungle. Oy, glad that's over. lol

That's a little history.

Why do I like it? -

I've always liked it, which you could gather from my history. It's just that game music, while rooted in the basics of music we listen to today, sounds so much better. It interests me more than regular music.

What makes it special? -

Simple. It's because it's from a videogame. But the most special kind of game music for me is the kind I grew up with. So I melt when I hear SNES and Genesis tunes. I even find a lot of PS, DC, and N64 soundtracks are almost as special to me in this sense as SNES and Genesis tunes are.

My history

Well the first game I ever saw in action was Altered Beast for the Genesis when I was about 3, my dad bought himself a Sega Genesis (Which looking back at it now seems really odd, since gaming wasn't as mainstream as it was back then) and the theme song has always resonated with me. Later on I got my first video game and system. Sonic 2 for Game Gear. The boss song was creepy and always made me nervous, palms sweating and everything. But the song that really got to me was the theme for Scrambled Egg Zone, which was coincidentally the intro music too. The feeling that this is the final stage (didn't think of getting the chaos emeralds and unlocking Crystal Egg Zone, the true final stage) and everything was on the line, made this song stand out as one of my favorite video game songs ever. As proof, that song is one of my ringtones on my Razr, some 15 or so odd years later. From there it kinda blurs because at that point I was definitely paying more attention to music in games. Many cool songs have come and gone, and there are always new songs and series that have music which I adore.

This all leads to the reason of why I like VG music so much and also why I classify it as one type of music. The emotion it brings. Each song is tied to a memory. The song helps preserve the memory while being part of it. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say about 90 percent of my favorite VG songs would not be favorites if not for the emotion tied with them. From past favorites such as a final showdown with Robotnik on top of Death Egg (Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Genesis) to current favorites such as Apollo Justice's theme (Apollo Justice Ace Attorney, DS), it's all tied to the memories of that game, the thrill of victory, the sadness of a character dying, the respect for a defeated rival. No other kind of music is qualified enough to bring up these kind of memories. Think about it, how many of your most personal memories have a theme song directly made for that moment. Not very much, but video games have one for almost every moment, and unlike movies, where you are a spectator, gaming draws you in.

MY VGM HISTORY
Well, I started playing in the 8-Bit-Era with an Sega Mastersystem to be my first console. The first time VGM got my attention was, I believe, a Spiderman-game. In that time, almost all games had soundtests, you remember? This days no game has a soundtestmenu, where you can listen to particular music. Maybe they are afraid, that someone steals their music ;-) But I was really hooked first in FF8. I had certain savegames in places with music I liked. Especially one, where you can hear Julias Theme in the scene with Laguna and Julia in that hotelroom in Deling City. I wonder if thats the reason for the name of this site=) From that point on I started the collection of VG OSTs, with importing from Japan and paying huge amounts of money for CDs with unreadable Booklets>:O . This ended with the discovery of GH:naughty:
WHY I LIKE VGM?
As mentioned earlier, memories to certain moments are an important fact. Somebody else said, music with special moods inspires him by writing. This is also what I am experiencing! VGM Themes are always made to transport a mood or feelings, a bit like filmmusic. I appreciate that very much, thinking of the fact that so-said commercial music is failing this for me in most cases. Another thing is that VGM comes often straight from the heart, as I believe. It is a difference if a musician composes music influenced strongly of the expectation of other people or his reputation, or only because he loves music. In VGM, most composers expect not much, because the selling of the game rarely depends on the quality of the soundtrack, and so they are without pressure in their creative process. But this is just a theory by meO:]

VIDEO GAME MUSIC IS NOT ALL ALIKE WHY DO YOU SPEAK OF IT AS ONE TYPE? WHY DO YOU LIKE ALL THE TYPES YOU LIKE?
I have many different genres of VGM in my collection, and everyone of them has its value. But my favourite type is classical inspired music with huge orchestra and complex themes. I also like classical music from earlier decades. As you will realize, every epoch had its style in classic music, such as romantic, renissaince, neo-classicism and so on. But our momentary century lacks a bit of a timelike style. There is atonal classic and 12-Tone-music, but these are mostly compositions without a melody, and that is pretty poor IMO. Music must speak to the heart, and without any melody this is impossible. And so the compositions in VGM with a classical touch are, so do I believe, an appropriate evolving of a timeless genre.

MY VGM HISTORY
Obviously, my first experience with game music came from playing an actual videogame. The game in question was Super Mario Bros.; the game that got me hooked on gaming, and indeed, game music. The classic upbeat, fun theme from the game has stuck with me for years; even today I find myself humming it. Another game I played early on that had a huge impact on my gaming life (and my life regarding game music) is Donkey Kong Country. The settings, atmosphere and beautiful music in that game just completely drew me in. The slowly fading jungle drums in the first level, accompanied by ambient animal sounds...I'll never forget hearing them as I watched the sun set on the horizon. Such a beautiful memory...
Anyway, despite the large effect game music had on me as a child, I didn't care too much for it until I discovered the wonders of downloading music on the internet. I found it amazing that I could enjoy the game music on its own, as well as reminisce on fond memories. For years I gathered up as much music as I could, but in the end only compiling a small library. Then, I found Galbadia Hotel - a veritable goldmine of game music. Simply put, I went crazy and downloaded the soundtracks of all of my favorite games upon finding this site. To this day, I continue to gratefully appreciate the site as a wonderful resource for music; I greatly thank everyone and anyone who has and will continue to upload this music for us.

WHY I LIKE VGM
Game music holds fond memories both young and old, as RecSpec perfectly said, as well as adds to the gaming experience; as it did with Donkey Kong Country, it immerses you into the game's world. Beautiful atmospheric music as you admire scenery...intense battle music that may give you an adrenaline rush...and of course, always a wonderful ending theme that leaves you satisfied with your adventure. Good games always leave a lasting impression on you that may stick to you for quite a while; listening to game music takes you back to those moments, and lets you always cherish them and the wonderful gaming experiences you had. Sometimes, it can even remind you of another experience or memory not of the game itself, but possibly to experiences related to it...like enjoying the game with a friend or sibling, or playing the game on the bus ride to school or on a rainy day...
Of course, I actually bother to listen to this music on its own (in preference to mainstream music, even); that's because I also enjoy it as, well, music. Even when not heard in-game, each song evokes an emotion in me; it can make me smile, want to dance (or at least tap my toe), soothe and calm me, sometimes even give me an exciting feeling of fear. And, well...sometimes I just can't put it any way other than I just enjoy listening to it. :)