A few weeks ago, my coworker Aldo told me about GamingFM.com, a site that hosts a few streaming stations that play only video game music. Geeky? perhaps, but I’ll walk (or cross) that geek line if I can get my daily dose of game music. I usually listen to the complete station all day while I work, and now I’m severely addicted. I’ve started hunting down these songs to add to my own collection, and Phil (another fellow video game music connoisseur) pointed me to this site. If you scroll to the bottom of that page, you’ll find the last section (CD3) which is the New Japan Philharmonic performing impressive renditions of songs from Super Smash Bros. Melee (if you don’t know what this game is, it’s basically a party-ish fighter containing most of Nintendo’s famous game characters). Anyway, if you think videogame music is only bleeps and blips, download ‘Smash Bros. Grand Medley,’ and expect to be enlightened (this song is a medley of a bunch of classic Nintendo game songs; see how many you can recognize).
I have had one bad experience with GamingFM however, (actually, no fault of the site) allow me to explain... (or don’t, by leaving). With the number of games I buy, it’s nearly a necessity that I sell back some games once I beat them (so as to make space in my cabinet, as well as keep the overall cost of my gaming addiction down). If a game really wow’d me, I’ll hold on to it, but if it was just OK and I can still get decent money for it… it’s gone. So far, I haven’t regretted selling any of my games… until now. I was listening to GamingFM a few days ago, and they played a song from Skies of Arcadia… I had flashbacks to the game, and suddenly I was flooded with feelings of guilt for selling that game. I had turned my back on Vyse, Fina, & Aika after spending so much time with them, fighting the evil Imperial Army of Valua! Now I’ve got to decide whether I’m going to buy back the game, or face the consequences of my actions… Eh, I’ll just ask for it as a b-day or xmas gift, and at least I won’t have to buy it twice!
Did you notice that gamingfm has a donations meter? They had about $1000 of $5000 needed when I peeked.
So I have to ask: Jake, are you going to put your money where your mouth is?
If they said "we need money now, or we're going to shut down" then yes, I'd donate like $20. But just because I like their site and they have a bar that says "we want money" doesn't mean I feel compelled to give them some.
True, every site nowadays seems to have the e-tip jar. But rarely do they do they hold e-pledge drives.
Jake, Glad you like the site. Hope you keep listening.
Sorry about the Skies thing. We have that effect on others and even ourselves. I can't tell you how many times I've cracked open a game left touched for years simply because i heard a track on one of our stations.
As far as the donations go, are we going to close down if people don't donate? No, of course not. Do donations help get better equipment and bandwidth? yes. $1 or $20, doesn't matter. Donations help make your listening experience better. But donations aren't just a "kiss your money away" deal with us. We have something planned for the near future that will allow us to give back to the people that supported us early on.
Anyways, great write up and hope to see you on our forums!
Sincerely,
Dilip "Klashe" Trivedi
GamingFM.com