Tuesday, June 27th, 2000
2,000,000!!!
2,000,000!!!
At 11:35 am Eastern Daylight Savings Time, the front page reached 2,000,000 hits since December 19, 1996 (date the archive was founded)!!! I'm speechless. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. See the Milestones Page for an updated hit counter graph. I love exponential growth! :)
(Mike Newman)Sunday, June 25th, 2000
Spreading the word
Spreading the word
Just spreading the word on two great things I found out about lately:
First is the free link checking program called Xenu. Its amazing. I just used it to verify that every link on this front page is perfect. Plus I used it to check out the Related Links Page and fixed many broken links there too. If you run a website, especially ones with a zillion links like this one, its a must have!!
Secondly, another very useful thing on the Internet is: FilePool.com. At this website, you can store ANY size file, ANY type of file, and its stored... FOREVER. It just boggles my mind. Many people have told me this is similiar to the online drive places, like I-Drive, etc., but this place is much more convenient, and can be used anonymously. Check it out! You basically are given a special link to retrieve the file. You can share that link with as many other people as you want. Very useful uses include avoiding file attachments, telling people where to get files on message boards, or just backing up tons of files from your computer (as long as they aren't too personal).
Both of these two news bits are from the greatest online e-zine, Lockergnome.
(Mike Newman)Wednesday, June 14th, 2000
...and back down it goes
...and back down it goes
Well, everyone seems to have caught up with the entire last month of not being able to upload. 110 files are listed since it came back online. Since the script that regenerates the pages will update again in 20 minutes, possibly more than that.
Unfortunately, at a rate of 50 files per day, I probably will have to explain to Marv why our bandwidth jumped for the past two days.
This also serves as an example of why reinstating the old upload script isn't going to work, and why the new one needs to be brought online soon.
(Ross Bemrose)Monday, June 12th, 2000
New-Files Status
New-Files Status
Although we have not yet finished reviewing all the applications we received (we are making some progress), we have decided to reopen the upload area.
(Ross Bemrose)Saturday, June 10th, 2000
RPGamer's Audiophile section
RPGamer's Audiophile section
Here ye, here ye, RPGamer's Audiophile section (which replaces the Music Box) is now open. Jeff Davis (JD) now runs this section of RPGamer, and has created a new layout for it.
The new layout is pretty good, although the length of the first update's text pushes the links down a little too far.
(Ross Bemrose)Wednesday, June 7th, 2000
Applications form closed
Applications form closed
I've closed down the applications form after 1 week of it being up. We will be reviewing the Applications in the following order:
(Ross Bemrose)
- NEC/SNK/Atari
- Computer/Arcade
- Sega
- Sony
Saturday, June 3rd, 2000
Overclocked Remix
Overclocked Remix
If you hadn't noticed, one of the icons under Related Sites has changed. It now sports the Overclocked Remix icon. Overclocked Remix is a site that hosts MP3s of remixed videogame music. Some music is by DJ Pretzel, the rest is submitted by users. Most of the remixes on the site are exclusives.
Overclocked Remix also has a streaming Radio Station (hosted by Live365) that you can tune into using Winamp.
Friday, June 2nd, 2000
New Poll question, Doom III opinion... "DOOM had one of the best musical scores of any video game."
New Poll question
I've added a poll question that I consider to be very important. It deals with whether the website should be more Community Oriented, or if the site should be more Music Oriented, or if it should be an even mixture of both.
This poll will end at 6am EDT Friday, June 9th, 2000, and will affect which way the archive will concentrate when the main pages are redesigned.
Doom III opinion... "DOOM had one of the best musical scores of any video game."
Ex-id employee Dave "Zoid" Kirsch commented about id software announcing another sequel to the Doom series over on /.. Since this is VGMusic.com, and not telefragged.com, I'm going to zero in on one statement.... "DOOM had one of the best musical scores of any video game."
I disagree with that statement. I admit that Doom's music was good for it's time. (I would have samples, but we are not allowed to post any music created by Bobby Prince on this website). For computers, technology has changed a lot in seven (7) years... CD-Roms have become the mainstream game media (rather than disks), and more space was available for digitally storing music.
Even so, the music for console video games has always been lightyears ahead of the music for computer games. I'd rather listen to the music to Final Fantasy and Lunar games over Doom's music any day.
I suppose I shouldn't waste all this space for my opinions. Oops. ;P
Wednesday, May 31st, 2000
The status of new-files
The status of new-files
Sadly, new-files remain locked at this point. There's a reason for that, we want to get down the number of files first. To that end, the VGMusic.com Staff Openings page has been renovated and brought up to date with 4 new positions. I ask that those of you who are not qualified refrain from filling this out, however. For example, if you don't own a playstation, you shouldn't be applying for the Sony systems position. This goes double for the TG16/Neo-Geo (SNK/NEC) section.
(Powerlord)Monday, May 29th, 2000
Mark Jordan leaves RPGamer
Mark Jordan leaves RPGamer
Mark Jordan, most well known for running RPGamer's Music Box, and the Ultima-Eternity Competition, has left RPGamer. When asked why, he stated "[I left] because of the inferiority of the fellow coworkers..."
Mark quit shortly after a heated discussion in RPGamer's public IRC channel (#rpgamer on weyr.esper.net) following being put on probation for an unknown length of time because he called another staff member "bitch".
RPGamer has yet to remove some songs that were dedicated to Mark and songs created for competitions. SSTrax's leaders (which include Mark Jordan) have already filed a request that their competition songs be removed.
Famed musician TSSF has also filed a request to dragon@rpgamer.com to have two songs he dedicated to Mark Jordan removed. If you are a tracker or sequencer and want your files removed from RPGamer, send an email message to dragon@rpgamer.com.
JD (IceDelta) has taken over as music editor of RPGamer. Mark Jordan can be reached by email at velius@rpgamer.com for a short time longer.
(Powerlord)Friday, May 26th, 2000
All quiet on the VGMusic front... too quiet, Forums problems, Sega CD section, Special Letter RE: Super Smash Bros Music
All quiet on the VGMusic front... too quiet
Of course, just because we're quiet doesn't mean things aren't going on in the background. We've been discussing what we're going to do with new-files and the upload script... We're close to a decision, so check back here over the weekend.
Forums problems
It's come to my attention that the script that registers new users on the forums is having some problems... apparently it isn't always writing the passwords it sends out to the database. I'm not sure of the exact cause, but I'm guessing it's related to the high number of users our forums system now has... more than it was originally intended to support.
A workaround is to go to the login page, and choose "I forgot my password"... this seems to work. We are looking into a more permanent solution.
Sega CD section
If you haven't seen it yet, the Sega CD games have been moved out of the Genesis section and into their own section. I still have to do the 32X games, but I might have some problems with these... beyond Knuckles Chaotix, I don't know what games are for the 32X! If you spot some in the Genesis section that are either 32X or Sega CD games, email me and tell me about it.
Special Letter RE: Super Smash Bros Music
KJP requested that I post this message here in the news:
I used to check the VGM Archive every few days for more Super Smash Bros music, as it is one of my favorite games. Every time a new file was added, I'd download it and be dissapointed. Maybe the dummies never played the game before, but news flash for those people: THE MUSIC IS NOT THE SAME! The files people submit are from older games those characters were in. Apparently people think the music is the same, but it isn't. I don't think there's a single song in the game that's the same as the older versions. This should be common sense to those who write MIDI files, but make sure you listen to the music first, THEN compose.Although I wouldn't use language quite this strong myself, I have seen quite a few posts about this over on the wishlists from different people. All the music in Super Smash Bros are remixes (note to self: Ask Kalrac to add a Glossary to the FAQ) of the original themes, and do not sound the same. This is irking many visitors that people keep uploading the original themes as these remixed versions.
(Powerlord)Friday, May 12th, 2000
Upload Script Offline
Upload Script Offline
Due to the high number of incoming files we have been getting recently, the upload script has been taken offline until further notice.
(Powerlord)Sunday, May 7th, 2000
Changing of the Guard
Changing of the Guard
The VGMusic staff has gone through some significant reorganization in order to better serve YOU, our visitors. I have stepped down as head administrator and will now be taking a lesser role in VGMusic as our Chief Financial Officer. Necrosaro is now listed as an "emeritus" (retired) staff member. As for promotions: Powerlord will be the new head administrator and Peach is the new assistant administrator. Overall, I would like to apologize for not having enough time to take a more active role in VGMusic lately. At times, it has seemed like I disappeared. The responsibilites of college life have been draining all my free time unfortunately. I have come to recognize that in any internet collaboration, delays of months (getting the new database up, or simply getting a chance to answer all my email) is simply not acceptable. The best of VGMusic.com is yet to come!
(Mike Newman)Saturday, May 6th, 2000
Working Designs forums update
Working Designs forums update
(For those of you who didn't see the other news post pertaining to this, I'm sorry. I removed it because it put Working Designs in a bad light)
Hmm... I found out from Innova why Working Designs wasn't processing new account applications. To quote from the email message:
We are accepting new user account applications, but have frozen new memberships until we get all-new security measures in place to prevent board abuse. Thank the less well-behaved netizens for that.Maybe I'm out of line here, but wouldn't the first step to get better security measures on a commercial forums product be to get the latest version from the manufacturer?
(Please note that we use the last freeware release of this same forums system because we don't have a budget for spending $100 to buy the registered version)
(Powerlord)Friday, May 5th, 2000
No news about the update?
No news about the update?
As you can see over in the left column, the archive was updated April 30th. No one posted about it, though. Go to Recent Additions and see what's new!
(Powerlord)Friday, April 14th, 2000
SSTrax has moved, Copyright information
SSTrax has moved
SSTrax has moved from sstrax.vgmusic.com to a new domain, SSTrax.com. They had a forwarding page up, but it was removed by the Telefragged administration.
Copyright information
I was recently informed about Bobby Prince's Why Deny Sites MIDI Files? page. I went there, read it, and realized that Bobby Prince was right. Our copyright information was very badly worded. On that note, I went and modified our Copyright information at the bottom of the main page to read:
All music files on this site, including those within zip files, are copyrighted by their respective authors. If you wish to use some of the music files you find on this site, feel free to download them. Please do not link directly to the music files on this site, but instead to the main page. All other information on this website is copyrighted and should not be used on any other page without our permission. More information is available on our Terms of Service page.Hopefully this will help clear up any confusion.
(Powerlord)Emails to staff regarding deletion of files and fixing errors.
I --and the other staff members-- often get e-mails about deleting files and fixing errors. Many of you when you email us though, don't say what specific file needs to be deleted, or fixed. Due to this, we can't always deal with your problem as we don't have enough infomation to deal with it.
Please at least provide the filenames of the files and the directory the file is in. For example, don't tell us to delete Schala's theme from Chrono Trigger because someone uploaded it without your permission, as there are many Schala's Themes there. If however you tell us the filename of the file involved we can deal with it promptly, and without hassle.
(39ster)Tuesday, April 4th, 2000
Gamesounds to close
It's interesting what you will see when you look at the source code to a website... I visited Gamesounds today, and saw some cool falling leaves... my first thought was... how do you do that...
As well as finding that, I found this:
Well, you were smart enough to read the source. YAY! I just don't find the site to be fun anymore. And I don't have money for the server. And I have other projects I'd rather spend my time on (like a rom translation and http://donut.parodius.com). And it seems that there's only room enough for one videogame music site on the internet. Thanks go out to Spinner 8, MBudai, Rie Lenka, Mr. About, kalevan, Taskforce, Erik, Eric E. Hache and all the se- quencers whose Midis were on the site. You're a great bunch of folks. It was great while it lasted =D. Maybe someday Gamesounds will come back, who knows? --(wraith) 15 Mar 2000(Powerlord)Monday, April 3rd, 2000
Uploading Files
Let me make something crystal clear. If you rip files from a game, don't just turn around and upload them without editing them. Also, don't turn around, rip something, edit it, then post it as something you sequenced... I haven't listened to the 3 new Lunar: Silver Star Story complete songs that appeared today, but there's a 75% chance they are simple edits of songs from the ZIP file I saved on my computer, then deleted earlier today. Nice try, but you really aren't fooling me, guys.
Yes, I realize I am singling out Lunar... it's a game I like, and I've been downloading midis as they come into the archive. The rules I stated apply to all games. If you rip it, edit it. If you rip it, don't claim it as something you sequenced, because all you did was alter the instruments and controllers.
(Powerlord)Sunday, April 2nd, 2000
Pranks this time every year. :P
There went another successful April Fools day. I was going to try to make all the images on the site upside down, but I realized that Marv and the rest of the Telefragged crew might get upset at that... *sigh*. Otherwise, I would have flipped everything and removed all the unflippable images.
My brother had a demented idea... "What if you replace every link to every song in new-files with a link to the Hamsterdance Theme?" Needless to say, I liked the idea and it got into this years April Fool's page. Some people thought it was funny. Some people hated it. Oh well. At least Kalrac telling people it's a virus on the Forums was funny. :)
Oh, and I preordered Y's Infinity for everyone. Enjoy your 53 disk set. :P
(Powerlord)Saturday, April 1st, 2000
New Staff Members
Dear VGMusic Fans:We have hired two new staff members to help us take care of the site. I want you all to please welcome William Gates and Steve Case to the team. They'll be helping out with the advertising department, as well as debugging problem areas of the site. So, expect a lot of MS and AOL ads, as we're now affiliated with those two companies. Scroll down...
(Powerlord)
...April Fools! `^_~-Yours truly - -
Princess Toadstool (Peach)
Friday, March 31st, 2000
VGMusic.com's New Official Chatroom
Dear VGMusic Fans:It's been a while since I wrote a news column, but I felt the need to mention our new official chatroom. You can access it through our java client here, or use IRC. Type /server irc.esper.net then /join #VGMA if you are using an IRC chat client (such as mIRC). Our chatroom rules will be a little more organized once set. Remember, there is no rule saying that you can't have fun. `^_~-
Yours truly - -
Princess Toadstool (Peach)Thursday, March 30th, 2000
Competition news: Ultima-Eternity
Blah blah blah, new competition. That's what you're thinking right? Think again...
Ultima-Eternity is no ordinary competition. This is a multi-website competition. What does that mean? That means this competition will be advertised from here to RPGamer, The GIA, Zophar's Domain, and beyond.
The competition itself is an RPG Remix competition, and consists of three (3) categories: MIDI, Module, and Live. Something for everyone. :) If you want more information, on what you can and can't do for this competition, visit the Ultima-Eternity page.
In addition to what I said above, each participating site has 5 positions to fill to promote the competition. If you are interested in being a representative for this site, please email Powerlord.
In addition to our site, you may want to see if you can enter on behalf of Game Music Network or HeLLVeN. You do not need to be on a team to enter this competition, but we would like to fill up all team slots first, before people start entering independantly.
(Powerlord)Friday, March 24th, 2000
Final Fantasy 8 PC MIDIs
I know what you're thinking... the FF8 midis don't show up in the update list, so they must not be on the site. That's not the case though. I manually added the Final Fantasy 8 MIDIs to the PC page, as well as fixed some bugs on the PC page. Thanks to Yura of VGMidi for the FF8 PC Midis!
It has come to our attention that some users would like the PC page split into two sections: One part for rips of the music for games, and another for sequenced music. The staff is currently discussing this, and we will let you know what we decide soon.
(Powerlord)Thursday, March 23rd, 2000
The return of the Sonic Corner
The Sonic Corner has reopened it's doors. The Sonic Corner was one of the larger Sonic music sites (and the only one whose main focus was music).
(Powerlord)Thursday, March 23rd, 2000
Is a Computer more musically talented than a human?
The results are in for that Tomorrow's world test I mentioned a week ago. I have not published the results here, incase we break any copyright laws, but check out their results here. How many of you got it right?
(39ster)Wednesday, March 22nd, 2000
Telefragged looking for people for new site.
I received this message this morning from Marv.TeleFragged (http://www.telefragged.com) is looking for an individual to develop and maintain a Playstation 2 web site that will become a part of our quickly expanding network. Persons applying for this position must be a self-starter and motivator with the ability to take the initiative and develop both a team and content for the site. Prior experience in web site maintenance and strong people skills are a definite plus. Prior Experience is desired and please send resumes to resumes@telefragged.com. This is an incentive based position.(Powerlord)Friday, March 17th, 2000 11:40pm EST
Lunar: Eternal Blue pack-in materials
Lunar: Eternal Blue's pack-in materials were posted not long ago on Working Designs page. They include:
Click here for picture. If you preorder, you also get the Ghaleon Punching Puppet.
- 3 Game CDs
- 1 soundtrack CD featuring arranged and expanded music
- 1 "Making of LUNAR 2" documentary video CD
- 1 Hardcover LUNAR 2 manual and artbook
- 1 Paper map with stats on the back
- 1 Full-size gold metallic Lucia's Pendant
- 4 mini character standees
Hmm... it looks like we even scooped the Major Sites (PSX.IGN.com, RPGamer and TheGIA) on the preorder gift and extra items not previously announced by Working Designs, thanks to Joshua Kaufman's sharp eyes!
(Source: Working Designs)Thursday, March 16th, 2000
Is a Computer more musically talented than a human?
A popular BBC show here in the UK, called Tomorrow's World are doing their annual test, to see if a Computer is as intelligent as a human. On their site they have a section where they want as many people as possible, to listen to 3 tunes, and vote on them. 1 tune is composed by a computer, 2 are composed by humans.
Go, listen and vote on them. If you live in the UK or if you can recive this TV show, you can check out the results when they release them next week on Wednesday 22nd March, but I shall also print their results here.
(39ster)Saturday, March 11th, 2000
Lunar: Eternal Blue, Lunar: The PC Story
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Master Zophar returns, this time to the PSX in the remake of Lunar: Eternal Blue. For those of you who have been following the Lunar series, you would have noticed that a remake of it appeared in Japan last year... well, the US release is in it's final stage of Translation by Working Designs, and has an expected release date towards the end of June. Since this isn't a review of Lunar: Eternal Blue, or the Lunar series I'll stop the review there and get on with the news.
An 8 hour (approximate time) playable demo of Lunar 2: Eternal Blue demo is being included in with Vanguard Bandits. (Source: RPGamer)
Rumor has it that the Lunar: Eternal Blue package will include 5 CDs: 3 Game CDs, 1 "Making Of" CD, and 1 Soundtrack CD (Game Music!! :D :D :D). (Source: RPGamer)
Working Designs says it will reveal all the details of Lunar: Eternal Blue's packaging, as well as begin preorders, after they finish server maintainance next week.From the Working Designs Website dated March 10, 2000:
Our website will be down early next week for up to two days while we perform long-overdue maintenance on the server and a few upgrades. After the maintenance is complete, we will be adding details about the LUNAR 2 launch, package contents, and pre-order premium program. Thanks for your patience and support!
(Source: Working Designs)Lunar: The PC Story
While every other gaming site out there has been starstruck by Lunar: Eternal Blue, I've also been keeping an eye on another Lunar game currently in production... The PC port of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete is expected to be out later this Spring. For those of you who missed this classic RPG's Playstation version or don't own a Playstation, I highly recommend purchasing this game!
(Powerlord)
(Source: Working Designs)
Friday, March 10th, 2000
UK Game publisher looking for web designer
FastTrak Software Publishing, a company based in the London, UK area, is looking for a full time staff member to create and maintain their web presence. Here's the requirements:
Urgently required: Full time permanent position to create and maintain a web portal for all things games development related.
UK based - North London (Watford). Skills required:
V. Good Web abilities,
basic programming skills - pref C & C++.
Must have a serious passion for games, games and games, oh and preferably music too!
Additional qualities: reliable, honest, humorous and a workaholic.Please contact now
Jon Silvera of FastTrak Software Publishing on +44 (0)1923 495 506 or e-mail jsilvera@polaron-group.co.ukThank you.
If you think you are qualified, and like in the London area, email Jon Silvera.
(Source: Zophar's Domain)
(Powerlord)Wednesday, March 8th, 2000
1.6Million
Mike asked me to say that sometime on Sunday the site hit 1.6 Million hits. Only 400,000 to go now. Thanks to everyone for this achievement. Anyone want to guess when we hit 10Million???
Also, incase some of you are wondering why I dated this news as Wednesday 8th, well, it's Wednesday here, even if it's still only Tuesday in North America.
(39ster)Thursday, March 2nd, 2000
11,000+ songs... minus a few, Faint rumbling in the distance
11,000+ songs... minus a few
I haven't manually updated the PC count for the songs I took out in the Bobby Prince fiasco. Needless to say, there is probably around 60-80 songs there... which brings us back below 11,000.
Faint rumbling in the distance
I don't know if anyone noticed or not, but I've stopped posting competition news on the main page. This was caused by me seeing the light from venus reflected off a weather balloon (I hope I quoted that line right)... Well actually because I was going to open a competitions page, but never did.
In competition news: VGMidi is bringing us OSR-1 (One Song Remix). The goal is to Remix Final Fantasy 5's Ahead On Our Way. Visit VGMidi's page for details.
Something BIG is approaching from the direction of RPGamer... I suggest you keep an eye out for it on this page and RPGamer's Music Box. To quote Mark Jordan:
A competition unlike any the RPG music world has seen is coming. Keep an eye out on Music Box and other places for this competition; You definatly do not want to miss it.(Powerlord)
