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View Full Version : My one-of-a-kind gaming holy grail



Aussie2B
05-13-2005, 01:45 AM
I wanted to post about this when I first won the contest, but I knew it would be so much better to wait until the prize actually came.... but let's start at the beginning. :)

I'm a big fan of video game music (mostly Japanese composers), and I go to several game music web sites. At a spiffy relatively new little site, they held a contest, in which people had to post at the forums to enter. I had posted there before, so it wasn't as if I was doing so purely for the opportunity to win, but I was secretly hoping I would, of course. ;) And lo and behold, I did. :)

After waiting a month or so, my prize finally came and it's...

An autographed card and t-shirt from Koji Hayama! ^_^

I know most of you (if not all) are going "Who?" right now. Well, check out this site:

http://www.cocoebiz.com/hayama/

Koji Hayama is the composer for the Cho Aniki series among other works (TwinBee, Front Mission 3, Super Robot Taisen Alpha, etc.) Hayama is THE biggest composer in Japan; yes, bigger than Uematsu. Unlike every other video game composer, Hayama crossed over from just appealing to game fans to being on the top of the pop charts. He has just as many non-gaming fans as those who have played the games his music has appeared in. Not only that, but he is the only game music composer to consistently and regularly put on amazing, energetic live shows, where the fans chant "ANIKI!" which has become his nickname.

Sadly, he's not well-known at all outside of Japan, nor does he get much respect. That's why, in a way, I think I was the best person who could have won the prize. I've been a huge fan of both his music and the Cho Aniki series for some time now, and while this prize may seem insignificant to just about any other American gamer, to me it's a treasure and it now reigns as king of my gaming collection.

Now to the pictures. :)

Here's the shirt before I took it out:

http://www.inverteddungeon.com/triacesuperfan/koji_shirt.jpg

There's gold lettering on the back of the shirt that sadly I didn't get a photo of. It says "Majime ni Ikiro", his motto, which means "Live your life seriously". The runner-up winner received the same shirt with silver lettering on the back.

Here's the autograph card:

http://www.inverteddungeon.com/triacesuperfan/koji_card.jpg

There's a photo on it of him singing live with his band. The top writing says "Aniki", below it you can see where it's personalized to me in English. ^_^ The large center writing is his signature, and the bottom line is his motto again "Majime ni Ikiro/Live your life seriously".

And finally, a photo of me wallowing in the bliss that is my prize. :P The site owner requested the photo in order to show off the winners, but I figured I'd upload it and share it here too. ^_^

http://www.inverteddungeon.com/triacesuperfan/Tina2.JPG

geelw
05-13-2005, 02:04 AM
O_O now that's cool! the only other signed thing from japan i have here is a copy of D2 for the dreamcast with kenji eno's signature on it, and that was one of those pure luck things, lol. anyway, congrats!

lendelin
05-13-2005, 02:09 AM
Congrats, this is a great prize!

...and even better, this has a true meaning to you, which makes it a real treasure.

Thanks for the info on Aniki as well, I didn't even know his name.

Videogamerdaryll
05-13-2005, 02:34 AM
Very,very Cool..Congrats on that acquisition..

tonyvortex
05-13-2005, 02:40 AM
im alwayslooking for some good websites for game music could you share some of them,thanks in adavnace!

XxMe2NiKxX
05-13-2005, 02:55 AM
That guy is amazing.

Congratulations.

tonyvortex
05-13-2005, 03:12 AM
im alwayslooking for some good websites for game music could you share some of them,thanks in advance!

InsaneDavid
05-13-2005, 04:13 AM
That's awesome! There's nothing in the world like one of a kind collectables, especially when they have special significance to their owner - and personalized for them as well. :) Congratulations!


im alwayslooking for some good websites for game music could you share some of them,thanks in advance!

...let us hope that was like the MOST DELAYED DOUBLE POST IN HISTORY , half an hour apart.

Gapporin
05-13-2005, 11:18 AM
Congratulations! I'm a big fan of video game music myself, but I've never really heard any of Hayama's works. I guess I'll have to go check it out now! :)

puxley
05-13-2005, 03:39 PM
Conga Rats!

Thank you for sharing your prize with us. If anybody is gonna understand that kind of appreciation for an artist's work, it's us.

:D

jajaja
05-13-2005, 03:48 PM
Congrats :) Nice price. I also agree that Japan have the greatest gamemusic composers.

Daria
05-13-2005, 04:16 PM
Ooooh...

While I can't say it's something I'd particuarily treasure, I can appreciate how special the prize is to you and for that you definately deserve a big round of congratulations. (:

Goodwill Hunter
05-13-2005, 07:21 PM
Congrats!......Very cool! Are you going to keep wearing the shirt? The shirt,signed card and a few of his games would make a great gameroom display in a shadow box!

Rich

Aussie2B
05-14-2005, 01:23 AM
I might take it out to wear on special occasions, but for now it's back in the plastic. My general rule when it comes to video game clothing is that if I can easily and cheaply replace it, I'll wear it constantly, but since this is virtually irreplaceable I want to keep it from wearing out. :)

Aussie2B
05-14-2005, 01:30 AM
im alwayslooking for some good websites for game music could you share some of them,thanks in adavnace!

Depends on what you're looking for. Do you want sites to download game music, buy albums, or just learn about it?

If you just want to listen to some game music, there's always vgmusic.com, ocremix.org, and vgmix.com. These are all fan-made, of course. Downloading music ripped from soundtracks is illegal, and since I buy all the albums I want, I don't know much about finding ripped music.

If you want to buy albums, here are some stores I recommend:

http://www.cocoebiz.com
http://www.otaku.com
http://www.gamemusic.com
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp
http://www.amazon.co.jp

They cost a fair amount of money, like all legit albums do. There are cheaper pirated albums out there, but they're illegal and poorer quality. It's always worth it to pay the extra money and support the artists. :)

And to just learn about the music and albums, www.chudahs-corner.com and www.gmronline.com are great resources.