Importing Game Music

[Yamazaki]

Importing and collecting game music (OST, ATS etc) is another part of my gaming hobby.

I'm collecting game music for about 4 years now. I don't own that many cds though, since I listen to them and only buy those I'm interested in.


anyway, would be cool to see any other OST-collectors here.

http://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p10101583vf.jpg

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[Push Upstairs]

I got nothin'.

But i like that cover of "Metal Slug 2".

[Gapporin]

I would love to import a choice few OSTs (Space Channel 5, Incredible Crisis, etc.), but usually they're so expensive. And if anybody knows me, they usually know I pay chicken feed for music. So, I can't really justify paying $20-25+ for a music CD. Still, would be cool to have those.

Oh! Oh! Just remembered: I do still have the FFV/FFVI compliation disc that came with Final Fantasy Anthologies. Nothing too spectacular, though.

(And don't tell me to get pirates, either...*shudder*)

[GaijinPunch]

I only own a few. I've bought as many Cave STG soundtracks as I can get my hands on, as I love their stuff. The music isn't bad, but I rarely listen to it.

Best game soundtracks that I've purchased for music quality:
Ghost in the Shell (PSX) on vinyl
Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG perfect collection.

[Ed Oscuro]

I dunno, the OST seems a bit nightmarish to me - reprints, bootlegs (EverAnime/Sonmay), and shipping prices. Still, I hope to pick up Dracula New Classic...one of these days...

[Aussie2B]

What's so bad about reprints? Reprints are GREAT for OST collectors. The only possible downside to reprints is if someone buys a soundtrack when it's really expensive and in high demand, but this can be easily avoided by buying whatever soundtracks you're interested in before they go out of print. Soundtracks aren't like games; they barely depreciate. Unlike buying a game for $60 brand new (or even more in some cases) and having the game be worth $5 a few years later, soundtracks will rarely drop more than 5 or 10 bucks less than their original prices of $20-$30. It's extremely common that soundtracks go UP in value, so buying new (or used when it still hasn't been out very long) is the best way to go. Waiting years is a BAD idea, unlike with games. I haven't put too much thought into what I suspect would rise in value, but I bet if I sold all my soundtracks right now, I'd get considerably more than what I paid for them all, and this is just from buying soundtracks that interested me.

When it absolutely isn't an option to buy a soundtrack close to its release date, it's usually not too hard to judge if a soundtrack will ever get a reprint. If it was a Square Enix property, there's a fair chance; if it was a Nintendo property, probably not. And even after reprints, there is still a market for the first print run, which many soundtrack collectors highly prefer. In fact, just recently the Valkyrie Profile OST got a reprint to go along with the PSP port of the game, yet the original Valkyrie Profile OST just sold on eBay for about 70 dollars.

[maxlords]

Yeah, I'll buy whatever is the cheapest for the most part. It's not like games where the companies are still making money off their properties either. Those soundtracks are flat out OOP. I've got over 50 game soundtracks at the moment...I'd say about 50-70% of them are legit ones. I've been collecting em for a while though and I rarely pay much more than $5-10 each for a soundtrack. In a scant few cases I've paid as much as $25 or so. But some soundtracks you can ONLY get bootlegged or burned.

For example, Dracula New Classics, as mentioned before, routinely goes for well over $100. I've seen it as high as $200 in the past as well. It's an AMAZING soundtrack, but there's no way I'd pay that for it. But I happened to find the MP3s online and snagged em and tossed em on my player. It's just not worth it to buy something like that when the company won't reprint ever. Not when you can DL it or buy a bootleg for around $10 or $15.

Now in general I'm against bootlegs, but for game music it's a fact of life. Unless you've got more money than you know what to do with you're gonna get at least a few of em. And like Aussie said, repirnts are great...lets you get a legit copy for dirt cheap compared to the stupid money they sometimes go for. I got a legit FF Tactics 2 disc soundtrack for $15 cause of the reprint...cardboard sleeve, poster and everything ;)

[importaku]

Theres one website on the net where you can get pretty much any ost for free bit i dont think it would be ok to post a direct link. But if you want it you can pm me.

mario, zelda, ddr, space chanel 5, rez, final fantasy the list is endless.

Its quite good if your after a very expensive ost, you can test it out to see if you like the music first.

[erehwon]

I haven't had the money to get much. The my first import was the Valkyrie Profile OST. Gamemusic.com got some of the original back in stock a few weeks ago. I managed to get one. It's not the reprinted one. What stores do you guys usually import OSTs from?
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/4959/vpostfront2angled4sl.th.jpg (http://img341.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vpostfront2angled4sl.jpg)

[icycalm]

Can you guys recommend some good stores to buy from?