by Maceo D. Trahan
If you're anything like me, you are a fan of video games and video game music. While I still love the genius of 8-bit music in classic games, I've grown to appreciate the richness and depth that only modern music can offer.
If you're familiar with the iTunes then you may be familiar with the large number of game albums available for sampling and purchase. Moving to Android has been a great thing but I still long for the full service of iTunes. While Google Play Music is getting to be somewhat close to iTunes it lacks a very simple upgrade that would make it really great: an music player/CD importer. Putting that aside Google Play is good enough if you're frequently online and have uploaded a lot of music and are OK with streaming content. Of course, if you're using an Android device you can save to the device or stream your music via the Google Play Music app.
As Google Play has grown it's really added a lot behind the scenes. Early on it seemed as though a lot of artists were not available and if you were looking for something off the beaten track (pardon the pun) like video game music, you had no idea what was there or even if it was there, at all.
Luckily, the Google Play team has been adding more albums and really expanding the music catalog into something far more respectable and comparable to what you may be used to with other online music services. I haven't been particularly blown away with any music in terms of where obscurity or exclusivity is concerned, but I had found a few gems from time to time. And while I certainly don't spend as much on music as I did when I used iTunes I still tend do look for things out of the ordinary because the music library is vastly growing.
So, yesterday had a pleasant surprise as I was looking for new things in Google Play and I got a suggestion that I might like a video game album. I jumped right in and although I wasn't immediately sold, but the related titles were far more what I was after.
Now, there's all kinds of goodies inside of Google Play Music (can that name be any longer?) and I found some big name game soundtracks and composers as well as some unknowns.
One of the most loved composers in game soundtracks is Nobuo Uematsu. His beloved melodies have delighted gamers for literally decades.
I was very happy to
see Uematsu's collection in Google Play. Of course, many of these tracks I have already bought, there are still some I haven't like the soundtrack to XBOX 360 exclusive Blue Dragon.
When I started this adventure, I found music from a game series I don't really enjoy playing but love listening to when I can. I'm talking about Castlevania. Deep dark, gothic and great. Yes, Castlevania is in Google Play.
Street Fighter is in Google Play. In fact, Dance Dance Revolution, Forza, Darksiders, Lineage, Halo, Final Fantasy, MassEffect, Hitman, Warhammer, Fable, Command and Conquer, World of Warcraft, Silent Hill... well, you get the idea.
There are so many video game titles in here, I don't think I'll ever be able to listen to them all.
I am a video game music junkie and I think I may have found a new reason to get back into more music consumption. I expect more recommendations from Google Play like these as I'm finding more and more appealing.
Now, the more perceptive of you may have noticed in the photo above is not a video game soundtrack, but a soundtrack from anime. Yes, anime music is also in Google Play.
This is getting good and I like it!
Anyone confused by some of the screenshots I've including can be assured that these are full albums and soundtracks and scores not just a theme track. There are video game music collections, as well, for those who need a reminder or just want more variety than focus. The most popular of which is probably the eclectic collection simply named "Video Games Live, Vol. One". If you're somewhat new to video game music and just want a nice sample, this is the place to start.
Pricing seems very reasonable at about 7.99~9.99 USD per album and as expected each song can be downloaded individually. I couldn't find a category for this wonderful genre of music and I really wish some of the game geeks at Google (there have to be a few, right?) take a stand and influence their peers.
It's a little annoying to have to play the search game when you want to know to just explore, but that's just how it is, for now. Who knows? Maybe one day video game music will have it's own category inside the soundtracks section and maybe it will be featured or gasp! even have some free songs, now and again.
Overall, this may not be the iTunes experience you're used or if you find yourself outside of the Apple ecosphere, for whatever reason, now you know that there's at least one more place you can go to get great video game music to enjoy other than YouTube.
Well, I hope you find some music you enjoy in Google Play Music.
Thanks for reading and see you next time!
