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Thursday, December 30th
Have a Happy New Year!!!
On behalf of the staff of the Videogame Music Archive, I would
like to wish everyone a happy new year and a wonderful new
millennium. May your new year's celebration be a safe and happy one!
(Mike Newman)
Tuesday, December 28th
A FORMal apology (and other bad jokes?)
The part 2 contest form is finally finished. Go fill it out! :)
Unfortunately, you won't be seeing much of me this week, I have other things I have to take care of this week.
(Powerlord)
Sunday, December 26th
Koopa Troop mistake and additions
Oops, my mistake. Koopa Troop is currently looking for a
keyboardist and a trumpet player, not a keyboardist and drummer. Sorry about that. Koopa Troop is located
in the San Fransisco Bay area.
The part 2 contest form isn't quite finished yet. It looks like the dealine for it once we get it up
is the beginning of the 2nd week in January.
(Powerlord)
Thursday, December 23rd
Contest information, Game Music Band
Contest information
The contest part 1 is taking longer to judge than we expected. We are going to launch
part 2 ASAP, which will go until the first week of January most likely (we haven't yet set the date
and December is almost finished). Check here later for news about part 2.
Game Music Band
My email needs sorting, I can't tell what's coming in about the site, and what isn't.
Anyway....
Koopa Troop is a fairly new band that solely plays video game music.
They are currently looking for a keyboardist and drummer. Sadly, I did not see anywhere on the page that told where exactly
the band was located. Oh well, in the future (probably after getting a keyboardist & Drummer) going to have MP3 samples on their
page. Visit their members page if you are interested in becoming a member.
(Powerlord)
Wednesday, December 22nd
Oops, Error!
Oops, we had a small problem earlier today. I was updating some scripts, and apparently one of them
created a file named index.html in the main directory... unfortunately, that overrode our index.shtml
and everyone would see a page that said Music at the top.
I have changed the order of the index documents to prevent this error from happening again.
(Powerlord)
Sunday, December 19th
Contest entry form closed, Happy Third Birthday!!
Contest entry form closed
Hey, hey, hey, Powerlord here. I ended up being away for the weekend without any warning, and
the contest upload form remained up during this time. Since the accident was my fault, all entries
were accepted up until I closed the upload form at about 9pm EST today (the 19th). We expect to have part
two of the contest set up later this week.
(Powerlord)
Happy Third Birthday!!
The Videogame Music Archive turns 3 years old today!! It has come
such a long way. Thanks to the 1.3 million visitors,
dedicated staff members, people who sequence the midis,
and the composers who actually wrote the music: you've all helped make this possible.
For a little history of this website, visit our Milestones page.
(Mike Newman)
Friday, December 10th
New Counter
Not that most people would have noticed unless I pointed this out, but we switched counters. Why?
The long used graphical counter on TeleFragged pages has been put to
rest. I do not have an alternative set at this point in but I will
hopefully shortly.
It died of old ages............
Marvin Malkowski Jr., Telefragged System Administrator
In the meantime, I've set up a temporary counter.
(Powerlord)
Tuesday, December 7th
Final Fantasy VIII Demo for the PC Released Today
For many of you who have wondered if Final Fantasy VIII would be released on the PC, well, here's the link for the
demo beta release. It's a nice 70MB though, so unless
you have a fast internet connection, enjoy the wait while it downloads. ::Looks at the download window that says it
has another 4hours 30mins left to download::
A Pentium 200 is required if you have a DirectX compatible 3D card and Pentium II 266
if you want to use software rendering. Anyway, enjoy it while we await the full release on the PC!
(39ster)
Sunday, December 5th
Contest upload form complete
The form to upload your MIDI entries is now online.
If you have any problems with the upload script, please contact me. The upload script requires a file at
least 1KB in size, but no larger than 100KB. It only accepts .mid (in any CAsE), and .midi (in any cASe) files.
(Powerlord)
Saturday, December 4th
VGMusic Birthday Contest news, Competitions: C9/OCC1 rules
VGMusic Birthday Contest news
Well, we've reviewed the entries we've gotten so far, and we saw one idea that stood
out from all the others:
Compose an original piece that could become the 'official' VGMusic.com theme submitted by
Osiris. We've taken this idea and expanded on it a bit.
The contest will have two parts.
- Compose an original theme that will become our official theme. The
staff will vote on the top 10 winners. #1 being the winner, and will get $20
prize. We will have an upload area specifically for this later either tomorrow or Monday. All entries are to be
submitted by 9pm EST/6pm PST December 17th. Yes, we do realize that this is before the websites birthday. We would like
to have part 2 up by the 18th if possible, and announce the winner on the night of the 19th.
- The people who didn't make midis can guess how the staff ranked the
songs, and who ever comes the closest to matching our top 10 will also get $20.
Competitions: C9/OCC1 rules
C9 Rules are now posted. Also, it appears that C9's MIDI Branch and OCC1 are the same
competition. Submit all MIDI entries to Khalal along with a 96Kbps mono (or lower) MP3 in a zip
with your mid file. Read the C9 Rules for more details.
(Powerlord)
Friday, December 3rd
Contest? What contest?, Music Competitions update, M$-Monopoly
Contest? What contest?
We plan to have a contest to celebrate the websites 3rd birthday on the 19th...
Only one problem though... We don't have a contest! If you have any contest ideas,
please submit them! Serious entries only, please.
Music Competitions Update
Two new Original competitions have started, one for modules, the other for midi.
SSTrax has announced their C9 competition, an original module competition. This is the first SSTrax competition to
offer a cash prize. The Cash prize is based on the number of Volume 2 SSTrax CD's sold. Each
CD sold adds $3.00 US to the big prize. Rules for this competition are not yet posted, however SSTrax competitions are normally scored on technical and
compositional (how good it sounds). Effects are a big plus when used in proper proportions. Rules are expected to appear later under
the SSTrax Competitions page.
All entries for this competition should be emailed to Khalal, or
sent to Khalal over IRC (server: irc.esper.net channel: #sstrax). This competitions due date is December 17th at 9pm EST/6pm PST.
VGMidi has announced their OCC1 competition, an original midi competition.
Today is the first day to submit entries for this contest. The rules for this competition are currently posted.
All entries to this competition should be emailed to Yura, or
sent to Yura over IRC (server: irc.esper.net channel: #midi). This competitions due date is December 17th.
VGC entries were due by 9pm EST today. Judging has now begun and results will be posted soon. Meanwhile, join the party in #sstrax and #vgmusic on irc.esper.net.
M$-Monopoly
Let's play M$-Monopoly!
(Powerlord)
Saturday, November 27th
Already another quarter million
We've just hit 1,250,000 hits according to our counter (actually, as I Ieave for work, we still
have 25 hits until we reach 1.25 million). This means that our hits/day ratio is still growing. At
this rate, we will hit 2 million within 6 months or so.
(Powerlord)
Tuesday, November 24th
VGC Compo Update
The VGC Compo has been extended! The new due date is December 3rd @ 9pm EST / 6pm PST.
This competition's goal is to track an Original Boss Theme. Click here for more details, rules, and
instructions on how to enter.
Please note that MIDI Sequencing is NOT Tracking. Tracking is creating a Module file type (XM and IT are the best two Module formats).
(Powerlord)
Monday, November 22nd
VGMusic Forums fixes
There's been some trouble with the forums system corrupting links when using the [url] tag.
I've turned off Markup, and removed the forums auto HTML->Markup thing when editing a post.
(Powerlord)
Saturday, November 20th
Project Majestic Mix
Well, I've let it happen again... news piled up with me not reporting it imediately.
Project Majestic Mix's Xoom site has been shut down unexpectedly, and with no explanation.
The official page is now on the KFSS Studios website.
In related news, Stephan Kennedy (of Project Majestic Mix) was interviewed by The Gaming Intelligence Agency (GIA). Somehow, this missed making
it to our news page. Sorry about that Stephan!
(Powerlord)
Tuesday, November 16th
Shameless Plug
Its always nice to get emails from people who make the actual
music for games. Here's an email I just got recently:
*** Hi there.
My name is Mark A. Klem and I have done some gaming music before. You
have me on your page.
I did Wacky Wheels and slew of music for various Doom and Doom2 add-ons.
I have just established a page on mp3.com and my very first CD has been
released as of today.
I was wondering if you could put it in the news on your page or
something.
The title of the CD is Silicon Sanctuary, and myself being the artist.
You can find samples and order information at
http://www.mp3.com/markklem
It would be great if you could make this possible, and i thank you very
much. ***
(Mike Newman)
Wednesday, November 10th
SSTrax relaunched!, KFSS STudios page to open soon, New Trivia Section, Domain Name Birthday, General Updates List
SSTrax relaunched!
SSTrax, the largest collection of non-SPC converted Video Game Music modules, just relaunched with
a new look! It's now easier to find what you are looking for, AND it's going to have a search set up very soon. 
KFSS Studios page to open soon
KFSS Studios, the creators of Project Majestic Mix, is currently constructing a new page, which will open sometime soon.
They are hosted on the same server as us, and as such, can have all the same type things we have (CGI scripts and the like).
Please note that our site is not planning on hosting any more sites.
New Trivia Section
CLaNRuler has taken over the Quiz (now named Trivia) and it will return to normal operation soon.
Domain Name Birthday
Our domain name turned 2 the 9th (yesterday). The sites birthday is coming up on the 19th of next month...
keep a look out for special contests!
Zophar's Domain's birthday was yesterday as well...
General Updates List
Well, there have been a few things that we haven't mentioned recently.
- We're having some trouble with the updates script... until I figure out exactly what is causing the misordering of
names, etc... please be patient (I haven't had a lot of time recently to handle it). It's also being rewritten to
cut down on excess code.
- New Files had a problem with handling over 1000 files. That problem has been fixed.
- Adding Auto-smileys to the Forums (took roughly 30 minutes, including bugchecks)
- Started work on new sistersites page stuff.
(Powerlord)
Friday, November 5th
Judge Thomas Penfield has released his Findings of Fact in the United States of America vs. Microsoft Corporation
The most important issues in this document included:
- The attempted buyout of Netscape for it's browser product, and failing that, creating contracts with ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and ICPs (Internet Content Providers) to use and build specifically for Internet Explorer.
- Microsoft's bullying of IBM after it's aqquisition of Lotus, which resulted in approximately a $40 million dollar loss for IBM during the 1995 Back to School season.
- Microsoft's Non-Sun Compliant version of Java Virtual Machine, and it's bullying of Intel to prevent Intel to license their Java Virtual Machine to Netscape.
It is almost 400K, so it is a fairly long ducument, and those above are almost random samples from the document. Read ABC New's summary for more details.
(Source: United States District Court for the District of Columbia)
(Powerlord)
Tuesday, October 26th
News Sections, New File Record, Thanks Peach!!! (Two News Posts)
Two new sections are now online: Sega Dreamcast and
Atari 2600. A funny combo if you think about it. Nevertheless,
the new sections have been opened since we now have files for them! Enjoy!
We now have over 10,000 files online, making us the second largest
midi archive in the world (#1 being the Midi Farm
which has over 15,000 files). I could be wrong about that stat, but in any case,
10,000 is a lot of files to choose from. If you know of any other larger midi sites,
please let me know. I'm curious to see where this site stands in comparison.
Thanks to Peach for doing the largest archive update ever!!!
(Mike Newman)
Extra, Extra! Update Skyrockets Archive Over 10,000!
Dear Friends,
Whoa! After two weeks of hard work, I've finally managed to update an
entire set of MIDIs, and yet again breaks the last record. Last record
was 584... This time, it is 590! On top of that, the update has sent
the total of MIDIs online to over 10,000! Sorry that it appeared a day
late. I was overly tired and had to start the next morning. But better
late than never, eh? Thanks all for waiting!
On other, similar news, I have noticed that some people have not been
obeying the uploading rules. Please, people, it's not just for our
sake, but for yours as well. If everyone cooperates, then that means
better quality updates. We plan to initiate a Profile setup so that if
you want to upload to our archive, you need to fill out a Profile (sort
of like an application). You will only need to do it once. It will be
similar to the forum profiles, so probably even staff members will have Upload
Profiles. You will also be asked a few (not many) questions concerning
the upload rules. We are doing this to be sure that people read and
abide by the rules, to make this place a better community. Yes. This
place is not just an archive, but a community. It's a place where both
the staff members and people like you make this page what it is.
Working together will make this site the best it can be. We encourage
you to work with us to make this the best MIDI archive in the world!
Thank you all for your support! `^_~-
Yours truly - -
Princess Toadstool (Peach)
Monday, October 18th
Very Interesting Search, Music Competitions, Missed the meeting :/
Very Interesting Search
Someone on IRC told me about this... very interesting... search
Go to google and search for more evil than satan himself, or, if you are using netscape 4.06 and up,
type in into your title bar.
Look at what site appears first on the list. >:P All you internet explorer users might be interested in this.
Music Competitions
There are two music competitions in the near future. First is RMX-1, a MIDI Video Game Remix competition
hosted by VGMIDI. This is due by Friday, October 30th.
The second is VGC-1, a tracking original competition hosted by me for SSTrax. The theme for this competition is to create
an original piece of music in the style of RPG Boss Battle music. A due date has not yet been set for this competition. All you MIDI sequencers keep your eyes open though, because since this competition style was my idea, I plan on
having a MIDI version of it later on. :)
Missed the meeting :/
Well, I missed the musicians meeting. No, it wasn't on purpose, it's just that one of my parents computers chose yesterday to stop working right and I spent from 4pm-11:30pm over there.
By the time I got home, I had missed the entire meeting.
(Powerlord)
Sunday, October 17th
Reminder: Online Musicians Meeting today
This is just a reminder to all sequencers and trackers who visit our chat room,
Mark Jordan is covening an online musicians meeting today between 5pm-midnight
Eastern Time in #Music.
Visitors are welcome, so drop by #Music on irc.esper.net,
or use the Java applet (modified in this case
to take you directly to #Music instead of #VGMusic).
(Powerlord)
Monday, October 11th
Help Us Raise Funds For A 3rd Anniversary Contest Prize
I would like to run a contest for the 3rd anniversary of this website,
which will be in Decemeber 1999. No contest is fun without a prize though.
While the VGMusic Store
is actually bringing in a little bit of money for us (of which we had
to use recently to renew the domain name registration), I thought I
would see if anyone would like to participate in a "Pay-to-Surf"
program from AllAdvantage.com.
AllAdvantage.com basically
pays you to have an ad banner running on the bottom of your computer screen. Each referal for a new
member also gives you additional funds. I've been told by a good friend that company this actually does pay you (in other
words its not bogus)! This particular system pays you at least $0.50 for every hour that
you are surfing the web.
So you if you interested in not only earning money for yourself, but also in helping us out,
click here to join. I've
already earned 11 cents surfing the web. :^) (The links to AllAdvantage above have our referral ID in the link.
However, in case the referral code gets lost, make sure you type in EXD460 when they
ask you for the ID of the person who referred you.)
(Mike Newman)
Sunday, October 10
It's Update Time!
Dear Friends,
Well, it's that time again. Time to rake in the MIDIs and send 'em home.
This time, I'm going to be working at this for two weeks, to avoid unnecessary stress. I may be
getting a new real life job VERY soon, and any day now, if things turn out the way I hope.
Because of this, I need to not be pushed to hours upon hours of work each day to finally get a
result in a mere week. Unnecessary stress has caused me to snap at some friends (you know who
you are), and I apologize for that.
Some of you have sent e-mails and messages to me pertaining to problems with certain MIDIs in the
new-files directory. I must ask that you please e-mail me again during this time about any
important problems with the files currently in the new-files directory, as I may very well forget
what some of you have told me. Thanks for your help! `^_~-
Yours truly - -
Princess Toadstool (Peach)
Wednesday, October 6th
Down For a Few Hours, But Ready For Many More
Site Down For Most of Afternoon EST
The website's host went offline at around 2:30pm EST, and came back online
at around 9:30pm EST. It seems according to one of our host adminstrators
that a "backhoe took out a fiber line" which connects our server to
the internet. D'oh! Hopefully this won't happen again.
VGMusic.com Domain Renewed
Also this morning, I renewed the VGMusic.com domain name with Internic.
We are now registered through October 2000.
(Mike Newman)
Monday, October 4th
Hit Counter Fixed
The hit counter reset to zero last night when it was at about 1,070,000. There's been
approximately 3,000 hits since then, so I reset the counter to 1,073,000.
(Mike Newman)
Sunday, October 3rd
Welcome The Kat to the VGMusic Staff!
VGMusic.com welcomes The Kat
to the VGmusic staff as our new database developer. The Kat is helping
us in his free time while he isn't at work (he's a Software Engineer for Yahoo!).
We are quite lucky to have the help of such a qualified individual. With his help, we hope to have
a new database online definitely before the new millenium (as compared to the projected finishing
date of 3054 for Powerlord and I to have enough free time to figure out PHP and SQL by ourselves).
(Mike Newman)
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