Lurker > PIayer_0

New Battle ~ !!!
Awakening ~ Nrburgring Suite
New Bodhum ~ New Bodhum -Aggressive Mix-

Gonna try advance listening from Bracket C to offset some of the fatigue later, the matches are actually scheduled when I'm on a trip so it works out!

white picket

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f4fdf4ec.jpg

I read all the extra nom notifications, but this has been going so fast for my brain that I'll just stick with my initial 4+4! Hopefully the powers above won't consider Minnie the Moocher to be too political...

While we're on version changes, @TeamRocketElite @slykirby are you okay to swap We Are the Lights to this longer upload https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZg8UByFC0I ? Current link for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWx-k_rOpy4

The new one has Phase 4 and a nice ending chord, instead of cutting out at 1:50 to end Phase 3 (up to that timestamp, they're identical). It's "only" gamerip quality but it's the one I've always listened to and @Kecleon352 (original nominator) is on board!

That was a fun nom period - I got to support Petal Bridge, my day 1 first-slot nom last year that got one support and then dropped! Also supported We Form in Crystals, another day 1 from me in 15 where it only got two doubles from me and DanKirby (guess who brought it back this year). That year was also when I discovered Flamerock Refuge as nommed by slykirby, who graciously supported my nom of it this time. Maybe those failed songs mean something after all!

Unrelated: I only learned about Round because it was recommended by chillphysics and Max on the SupraDarky server!

Went through the noms in alphabetical order by song and there don't seem to be any dupes that need to be merged, woo

Cumulative headcount:
71 at 6+
202 at 5+
222 at 4/4+
261 at 4/3+

Next thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80757907

Last two supports to make some 5/4s, I'm now out of votes!

+ Atelier Sophie: Alchemist of the Mysterious Book | Spring Wind Skylark | https://youtu.be/3_vHQ6X-S2Q
+ The Kingdom | The Kingdom | https://youtu.be/6PdGLljvyM0

Cumulative headcount now:
68 at 6+
153 at 5+
181 at 4/4+
249 at 4/2+

Think you forgot some +'s there

A support and a double to make 4/3 and 4/2:

+ Crypt Underworld: The End of History | heaven | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaiWOkDxxmU
++ Persona 3 FES | Interstice of Time | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqDvbB1Lj0Q

At least we have The Best Is Yet To Come

Still watching some potential supports, but for now just doubling these to 3/2:

++ Ecco: The Tides of Time (Sega CD) | St. Gabriel's Mask | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuNwZ9GqBFU
++ Borderlands 2 | Flamerock Refuge | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53CAzh_qCGE

PIayer_0 posted...

Current headcount:
6 locks at 7/x
5 near-locks at 6/x
37 probably-safe at 5/x
66 contenders at 4/x
109 upstarts at 3/x
117 wildcards at 2/2, with 33 that would make the top 256
A bunch at 2/1 and below (but there's always hope)

Updated headcount:
37 locks at 7/x
18 near-locks at 6/x
55 probably-safe at 5/x
90 contenders at 4/x
84 upstarts at 3/x, with 27 3/2's that would make the top 256
76 wildcards at 2/2

Good support

lol

...y'all really gotta tempt me to support this every year huh

+ Fire Emblem: Three Houses | The Apex of the World (Rain) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0KjljX4Lqg

How I wish a mix of Memory 1-4 plus Bounding Through Time was eligible!

Those are as of post 100 so Black Ark Unveiled should be the only new lock (also Northern Desert jumped from 3/2 to 6/5?!)

Current headcount:
6 locks at 7/x
5 near-locks at 6/x
37 probably-safe at 5/x
66 contenders at 4/x
109 upstarts at 3/x
117 wildcards at 2/2, with 33 that would make the top 256
A bunch at 2/1 and below (but there's always hope)

I am fully caught up!! Adding three supports and promoting two to doubles:

+ Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim | Black Ark Unveiled | https://youtu.be/bIdsFU71ZbY
+ Drakengard 3 | Blissade/Egregori | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ybpe8-r2P4
+ OutRun | Magical Sound Shower | https://youtu.be/yzsqx5uXmpA
++ Uma Musume: Pretty Derby | BLOW my GALE | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1StEneaFqA
++ Princess Connect! Re: Dive | Twinkling Wish | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODsMu4CgI_E

Brings these to 4/3, 3/3, 2/2, 3/2, and 3/2

Listened up to the freeze after lots of skipping (post #330), which means another round of supports!

+ Stellaris | Faster Than Light | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1E47M88p8
^Would still prefer the instrumental version of this

+ Pilotwings 64 | Birdman | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DROiSgvFsRY
+ Dragalia Lost | We Are The Lights | https://youtu.be/EWx-k_rOpy4
+ Genshin Impact | Across Dimming Asterisms | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvLZzUcyDWY

I swear I don't play these newfangled gacha games I just like their music-

So good, it's made me cry multiple times and I'm not even through half the episodes. Will probably sneak-watch The Sign with all the buzz it's getting!

@HBJDubs I'll support Faster Than Light after the freeze either way, but I actually prefer the instrumental and think it would do better in the bracket (though it may have a harder time making it past noms): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5b5RrMOcRc

@andylt You have it in your supports playlist, any opinions? Current link for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1E47M88p8

The Offspring | Intermission | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9-mKKotWZo

Sure makes my life easier when there are songs I've supported before that never made it in!

+ Persona 3 FES | Interstice of Time | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqDvbB1Lj0Q
+ Star Ocean: The Second Story | We form in crystals | https://youtu.be/ZA0Pk5DKKSY
+ Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard | Labyrinth IV Petal Bridge | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTwUbWqIh4I

Listened through page 1 so far, which conveniently ends at song 200. ~100 more to finish day 1 and then I'll probably start doing partial listens to each song.

Never, video game music does nothing for me

Day 2 noms!

+ FAR: Changing Tides | Round | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKmrVYPZ7f8
+ Tokyo Dark | Tokyo Dark Main Theme | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gra-8luTajo
+ Borderlands 2 | Flamerock Refuge | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53CAzh_qCGE

Making good listening progress, passed 100 songs and will gradually add stuff here: https://pastebin.com/3fWkzwkv (also check out other people's lists on the Reactions sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FSbGDe4eo2bTfFrOqOIFc6gqh-XmVtz2fCROOYGrJTI/edit#gid=1086335079 )

PIayer_0 posted...

PSA that if you posted a long upload (over 5:30) and know the loop point, please add it (or write N/A) to the left side of the Reactions sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FSbGDe4eo2bTfFrOqOIFc6gqh-XmVtz2fCROOYGrJTI/edit#gid=0

A few of us mark the loops each year to save precious listening time, but it sure is a lot easier when you're familiar with the song!

Case in point...if you get tired of Old OSF Hospital from Scarlet Nexus, it's because you've heard everything by 3:45 - there it jumps back to 1:20 for a bit, before finally repeating from 0:00.

PSA that if you posted a long upload (over 5:30) and know the loop point, please add it (or write N/A) to the left side of the Reactions sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FSbGDe4eo2bTfFrOqOIFc6gqh-XmVtz2fCROOYGrJTI/edit#gid=0

A few of us mark the loops each year to save precious listening time, but it sure is a lot easier when you're familiar with the song!

Time to fill page 1:
VGMC 16: 4m03s
VGMC 17: 5m03s
VGMC 18: 5m27s

What!!

It's 2024?! Election time in America and the Olympics in Paris, SBAllen has stepped down as Admin, and GamesIndustry.biz shares a report that 95% of studios are "developing or maintaining a live service game." Wikipedia now has an article for List of video game soundtracks considered the best, and VGMC's 18th year will take us from 244 to 260 retirees! Last finals result: Back in Time 33-32 The Last Specters Theme

+ Ecco: The Tides of Time (Sega CD) | St. Gabriel's Mask | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuNwZ9GqBFU
+ Princess Connect! Re: Dive | Twinkling Wish | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODsMu4CgI_E
+ Uma Musume: Pretty Derby | BLOW my GALE | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1StEneaFqA

Koshiro sweep

Good thoughts coming out, that's what I like to see! Focusing on what can realistically be done this year (or else bookmarked for next year), we can continue with:
1) Community hosting: Some input from deo would be good here - which duties could use the most help? Running noms, making the bracket, posting topics, tallying votes...maybe you would like a topic-posting break in that long period from May to August? I like the idea of requiring match votes to fall under some criteria, so it's easy for anyone to jump in and tally the obvious ones. Ambiguous votes wouldn't get discarded, but are tagged for deo in whatever shared tallying sheet we set up. Another idea for late topics: People could sign up for a chain of backup timeslots, i.e. azuarc posts if deo hasn't posted by 9:10, Max posts if azuarc hasn't posted by 9:12, P0 for 9:14...
2) Locks, limits and deadlines: This is just a catch-all for small tweaks to the nomination schedule. I don't have strong feelings here, just don't make it more complicated...
3) Multi-noms beyond doubles: The discussion's only just started in this topic, but these have come up enough in past years that they probably deserve consideration sooner rather than later. Like people have said before, it helps songs that are really strongly favoured by 1-2 users, compared to generally liked by 5 users. I'd enjoy a bracket with more of those songs! And we can implement them as gently as we'd like - maybe we just add one quadruple, or convert the existing doubles to triples if that's much easier for hosting.

For the rest, I realize that taking the bracket from 256 to 128 would be too sudden to announce on the spot, but I'm still curious about the reception if it's asked in advance (something like "Should the bracket size of 256 be kept the same, decreased, or increased in two years?"). I have faith that I'm not the only one who's getting too old and busy to handle 100 days of matches every year...just something I want to do a wider poll on, even if it takes a year or two (not sure if we'll do something special for VGMC 20?). Anything with drop protection, separating noms/supports, etc. also sounds drastic enough that it's better considered in a future year.

In case people forgot like me, the nom schedule is identical to last year, assuming 20 unique noms and 128 locks still. Even "April 19st" is a typo from copypasting last year's post!

I feel like I'm already late to this topic, but we have a good 11 days to discuss potential rule changes, even if they're not implemented until a future year. Here are some broad topics to consider:

1) Hosting support: Should we open up hosting duties to the community? Seeing deo forget or be unable to post this topic multiple times this week, I'm reminded that 4 months of nominations, bracket construction, topic posting, and vote tallying is a lot of work to put on one person! With the growth from 128 to 192 to 256 and loop/composer tagging, it's only getting worse while we're getting older with outside responsibilities and life changes. deo already gets a lot of help with admin stuff, we're just missing a more official way to contribute. How can I help with posting the topic when deo's away? How do I tally votes accurately? Maybe we can lighten the load by assigning each day of the week to different people for the match topic, but there need to be resources to support that. Many of us know how hosting works by now, and the contest will probably progress towards being more community-run anyway.

2) Long bracket stage: Is 256 songs still worth making the bracket take over 3 months to finish? Can we either reduce it or do something to get through it faster? Last year's songs averaged 3m48s *if* you skip at the loop, which was over 20 minutes of critical listening per day, for half of May and most of June. That's just round 1, the first half of the contest! We can at least do a survey on how people feel about 256, and there's nothing wrong with trying 128 for one year before returning to 256 again. Separately from the bracket size, I've often mentioned how energies are high to start the contest, which we should utilize to power through matches in the first few weeks. This can range from an official "super week" to occasionally posting future matches that people can vote in now to save time later.

3) Noms and representation: Does everyone feel like their voice can be heard with the power of supports and doubles? A community bracket would ideally represent each demographic proportionally, *except* no one gets rounded down to zero representation. We're in a stable B8-Siiva-Supra period where we can try things that were vulnerable to bad actors in the past, like giving people the power to push in that one darling song. It would be a big leap to do auto-include noms, but we can try something with going beyond doubles. Everyone gets three triples? Or two quadruples? One quintuple? Maybe they can distribute their 20 votes across as few songs as they like, but with a cap per song. Representation is connected to bracket size too - we grew to 256 to have more tastes represented, yet doubling the field doesn't shift any demographics directly...we just get more of everything in the same proportions.

4) Nom deadlines: How many rules do we add to try and satisfy everyone? All these deadlines are getting to a point where I have a hard time keeping them in my head, not to mention the newcomers parsing them for the first time. Some people like locks and some people like a moving cutoff, should both deadlines be stuffed in together each year? It can satisfy both sides, but it's also more criteria to worry about. This year, I'm reducing my original noms and have seen comments considering the same - will that make supports more concentrated and push the cutoff higher? I have no idea, so now I have to track how many songs are locking daily, check how many lock slots are free before the deadline, decide if I want to push for any locks, drop songs before the last day, then manage the moving cutoff at the end (whose speed is itself affected by how many users' votes are sitting on locks). I'm getting too old for this! Casual, public games are fun because they impose rules that are easy to learn and play with, and that goes for both veterans and newcomers.

More opinionated thoughts:
I come back to this contest precisely because things change and fiascos happen - last year was uneventful without many newcomers or rule changes, and I couldn't tell you much about the highlights. I do remember the weird but fun VGMC 14 wildcards, the Drift Stage conspiracy being unravelled, and the full bracket lock of VGMC 15 - those are fun memories! I loved the retiree sets of 13 and 14, but I'd get bored if retirees looked like that every year. 18 years has gotten us to a solid community and we shouldn't be afraid of trying small changes, even if they work terribly and promptly get reverted. VGMC will still be VGMC!

Personally, I've always been here for the bracket phase and retirees, but I'm planning to skip a few rounds this year because of how long 256 songs take. But I also see people say nominations are the best part - maybe that's a sign that we need more events like crowdsources, community mixes, or VGM gift exchanges? Putting all your worth into a song making or not making a bracket among 500-1000 other songs has never seemed like a healthy way to connect with a community. The idea of people stopping to appreciate your songs is an illusion too - there's no time for reviews or repeat listens when there are noms to get through, supports to organize, deadlines to worry about...it's more an outdoor music festival than a hangout at a friend's house. I guess I'm saying that VGMC has never felt like it was about anything other than the bracket for me, and it's great that people can find the fun in noms but maybe there can be a better-shaped hole for their square peg.

Well, I wrote too much as usual but it's always fun to gather for a VGM event with such a long history. The community has shown its resilience over the years and I'm sure it'll survive for many more, whether everything goes smoothly or makes grown-ups type angry words on the Internet!

Whoa !

What a ride, thanks for the ranking! Interestingly the top 4 are all from the 2020s, which also holds true for my Olivia Rodrigo noms. I felt the same way as you when I got into her music last summer, that I'd gotten used to filtering her name out and wished someone had told me about her earlier! I'm glad I got to be that music-recommending friend for you - I didn't think too hard about targeting my picks, mostly wanted to highlight an artist in the modern pop landscape. Her two albums are a short and fun listen too, but I really feel she's at her best in her singles - deja vu is the one I wished I had room for! Still feels weird that she was born 2003.

Wow, drivers license is out and traitor finishes on top, did not see that coming! I actually didn't know it was her debut single either, it's amazing just how huge it was - #1 in half of Europe? Israel?? Malaysia??? Her name probably came up in one of my news feeds back then, but not that I can remember. SNL's sketch always makes me smile: https://twitter.com/nbcsnl/status/1363355948065181703 It's not exactly original, but that just shows how the song's mere existence is enough material for a "haha so relatable" joke.

Oh, I just realized I gave you the clean version of every song except traitor...the swears really add to the teenage angst, but at least it's an excuse to revisit her music in the future. driver's license is especially different in the explicit version, so maybe that can be a bonus writeup after the ranking.

Olivia's catchy rock bangers are my favourite, so my ranking would've looked pretty different from yours - for example, I would've had traitor a few tiers below the others!

I think we had the same reaction to Genshin's Chinese opera song, it's surprisingly enjoyable and epic-sounding! The Peking opera tradition is old but not "China old," coming from the same time period as Wayfaring Stranger. Jackie Chan actually trained for it as a child, and that's what got him started in martial arts and live stunts! As I understand it, the song is performed in the ending cutscene to a Genshin story quest, and tells the backstory of a different playable character from the singer. The storybook animation that accompanies it is really pretty!

My five noms started out as songs in different languages, which morphed into songs representing world cultures and then songs that transport you to a different place and time. I'm sure you will encounter them again in some form of Peking opera, Japanese enka, retro-styled K-pop, Pacific Islander group sing-alongs, or solemn covers of American folk tunes. Game development can only grow more in non-Anglophone countries and we'll get lots of fun cultural exchange in the next 5, 10, 20 years.

There it is! I was getting worried that you might already be an Olivia fan after it took this long, and that's no fun. I only got into her stuff last year myself - this song was an instant standout when GUTS came out, especially since good 4 u was my favourite before that. I expect I'll start quickly dropping songs now, but your comment about being taken back to high school tells me that the right emotional connections have been made!

Wayfaring Stranger is an American folk song from the early-mid 1800s, I love the lyrics to this one! It's sung in the credits by the voices of Ellie and Joel - I haven't played or watched Last of Us, but I can tell that some very painful things happen. I'll say that a song like this would've broken me if it played in Telltale's The Walking Dead.

Neon was my modern-sounding pick where the 1989 version is faster and more electronic than the original, probably to make it fit better into DJMAX. Yukika is an interesting case where she was originally from Japan, but moved to South Korea and mostly sings in Korean. Her city pop aesthetic also feels very "K-pop" in the sense of repackaging a trendy genre with a new sound. She retired a few months ago unfortunately, after just one album and two EPs!

It was very close between Tchia and Venba for my 2023 pick, but I really liked how immersive the tropical feel was in this one! It may not sound as authentic to its country as my other noms (the game even has songs featuring New Caledonian locals that I didn't pick), but it does bring you the singing voices of the developers behind the game! Their slight lack of coordination actually sounds right for a live performance in a tropical village. I'm now realizing that this is literally happy town music, so it feels like an encouraging result for future happy town noms?

rwlh posted...

Oh interesting! I sincerely hope you give me such detailed info about all of your noms when they come up!

...my comments will quickly reveal how much and how little I know about different cultures

Didn't nominate but tag aaaaand the first two drops are songs I love

Rounding mine out with more character songs, may add more later

Silver Forest | Tsurupettan (2:40)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaCTAnZiGN8
@PIayer_0
Character: Suika Ibuki

Steven Universe | Stronger Than You (2:52)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GrmiTlaVgo
@PIayer_0
Character: Garnet

Akiba Maid War | Maid no Komoriuta (4:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlORd1Wmgys
@PIayer_0
Character: Ranko Mannen

bump

I'm happy I at least found some video game enka for you! It's a standard Japanese genre with sentimental lyrics and traditional influences, which makes for a cool sound when they use note scales that Western listeners aren't used to. It got really big some time after WW2, so you could consider it their version of blues or moody vocal jazz. The most widespread example is probably in Kill Bill 1, where a song plays after the snowy duel in Japan. In Yakuza 2's case, the overwhelming emotion convinces a yakuza boss to forgive the singer's debt and give up his gang life for the snowy countryside (it is very cute)