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Frequently Asked Questions
About the VGMPF
Q: What is the purpose of the Videogame Music Preservation Foundation?
A: To provide the ability to listen to videogame music in its originally intended form for as many games as possible. This is done in order to preserve videogame history by giving easy access to one of the best parts of the game--the music. Up until now, all site have been about remixes or MIDI conversions.
Q: What ISN'T the purpose of the Videogame Music Preservation Foundation?
A: The VGMPF is not a remix site -- There are many great remix sites listed on the links page.
The VGMPF is not a pirate organization -- Any copyrighted material that the copyright holder doesn't want posted will be taken down.
The VGMPF is not a business -- The music available here is not being sold, but instead given away for free.
Q: Are you really going to record the music to every videogame?
A: That's our ultimate goal. However, in a more realistic approach, we plan on first recording the music of the games with the best music along with popular games that maybe didn't have the best music, but many people remember it none-the-less. Our reasonable goal is to make available the music of every game that people would actually want to listen to.
Q: Are you just ripping the music from the original soundtrack CDs and putting it online?
A: Absolutely not. This site is not a pirate organization. Most of the games on this site have never even had a soundtrack released for them. We are not trying to take away sales from any company. For every game that does have a soundtrack still available, we'll direct you to a place where you can legally purchase it.
Q: How are you getting the music from these games?
A: The music is being painstakingly ripped from the game's data files. Because they are the actual game files the music will sound identical to what you would hear when playing the game. The songs are not stylized like they sometimes are on the soundtracks, nor are they recreations like most MIDI and remix sites.
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Formats
Q: What formats will you be supplying the music in?
A: The main goal is to provide the music in its original format (or the closest possible facsimile). Also, because most audio formats are not playable on modern devices, all the music will be recorded in Vorbis format to ensure its versatility.
Q: I've downloaded a ripped soundtrack, but I can't play it. Why not?
A: Most likely, this is because you don't have a suitable player for the music. The VGMPF provides a large assortment of players for each of it's formats. Find the format in the formats page and download and install a player.
Q: Why don't you have a player for all of the formats?
A: Because one hasn't been written yet. There are hundreds of different audio formats ripped from games, and it takes mad skillz to create a player for them. Try emaling a programmer and asking them to make a player.
Q: Why don't some of the rips sound the same as when they're played in the game?
A: Some games use General MIDI instruments that are the same no matter where they are played. Most games create their own instruments that are stored in separate files that most music players can't read or used special hardware like the Roland MT-32 which is no longer being manufactured. We will extract the instrument files if possible, but this is the primary reason why we offer music in Vorbis format to get the original sound from the games that you can't get from just the music files.
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Ogg Vorbis
Q: What are OGG files? How do I play them?
A: OGG is the extension for Vorbis music files. Look at the Vorbis page for instructions on how they are played.
Q: Why does the VGMPF use Vorbis, why not MP3?
A: MP3 is currently supported by more players than Vorbis, but it is a patented format. Vorbis, on the other hand, is open source and patent free allowing much more ease of use. It also compresses better than MP3 and sounds better at high compression. Many open communities (like Wikipedia) are using Vorbis for these very same reasons.
Q: How do I play these tunes on my portable player that doesn't support Vorbis?
A: If you have an iPod, there is a plugin for iTunes on the OGG page. If you're using a Zune or other player you'll have to convert the Vorbis file into MP3. See the Vorbis Tutorial for instructions.
Q: Why are you using a lossy codec? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of having identical sound?
A: For posterity's sake, all of the music is originally recorded into FLAC (a lossless codec). However, in order to keep the cost of bandwidth down, Vorbis is used on the site. When enough demand for the songs in FLAC format is made, we'll begin releasing the entire archive as a torrent.
Q: How do you handle looping music when recording in Vorbis?
A: Most videogame music is set to loop forever. Obviously, we can't create a never ending Vorbis file so for most converted songs we will loop the main song twice and then have a ten second fade out on the third loop. However, if the first loop of the song is too long (over 2 minutes), than only one loop will be made with a ten second fade out of the beginning of the second loop.
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7 Zip
Q: What is a 7z file and how do I open them?
A: 7z files are compressed using the 7 Zip algorithm. It's similar to Zip, but much better. Look at the 7z page for instructions on how to decompress 7z files.
Q: Why do you use 7z compression on certain archives? Why not RAR or ZIP?
A: The common ZIP compression works nicely on individual files, but 7z has a special store feature that allows it to compress similar files much better than ZIP, especially on certain formats like SPC and VGM. While this feature is also available in formats like RAR and ACE formats, those formats are patented and closed. We decided to use 7z over those because 7z is open source, patent free, and it compresses better on average.
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Legality
Q: Is it legal to offer copyrighted music like this on the Internet?
A: It's a gray area. While it may be against the letter of the law, it isn't against the spirit of the law. We're not distributing the games themselves and we're not distributing copies of the original CD soundtracks. We do not want to take away any money due to the owners of this music, just the opposite in fact. Our current position is that we will no longer accept or post soundtracks unless ten years have passed since their first date of publish. We respect the wishes of every copyright holder whose music is showcased here and we will remove any files they ask to have them taken down, however we doubt the copyright holders will even care that their music is freely available (some may even be greatful for it). Think about how many times you see unauthorized graphics from copyrighted games on the Web in the form of screenshots or animated GIFs, the owners don't seem to mind and they help keep an interest in the game that wouldn't otherwise exist.
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Localization
Q: How do you meet the needs of non-English speaking guests?
A: This site is obviously USA-centric. The box art and screenshots are all from the North American versions and the site is written completely in English. Until translators are made available the site will continue to be in English. However, to better serve the global community we try to include every title variant for each language that a game was published in. This allows people from anywhere on Earth to find the game they're looking for.
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Contributions
Q: Can I help contribute?
A: Of course! We're always on the lookout for more people to help increase the size of the Videogame Music Preservation Foundation. See the Submissions page for more information.
Q: I have a picture of a composer, scan of bax art, screen shots, etc. that you don't have. How do I get it to you?
A: We're currently working on making an uploading service to do this hands free, but in the mean time, email the picture to us and we'll post for you.
Q: What do I need to record game music?
A: You'll need the original ripped music (see the ripped music section in the links page), a player that can play the ripped music and convert it to digital audio (like Winamp), and an audio editor to adjust the music (like Audacity or Gold Wave).
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© Copyright 2005-2009: Videogame Music Preservation Foundation. All rights reserved.
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