Video Game Soundtracks on Vinyl

We're in the middle of a bit of a vinyl boom. Most film soundtracks are being released on vinyl now.

Does anyone else wish the same was done for game soundtracks? I looked it up and there are very few titles available, and what is available is rare. I'd love Red Dead Redemption's soundtrack, but it's $300+. Halo's was reissued but it seems impossible to find. There was a Final Fantasy compilation but it's very rare.

If the album was recorded digitally, there is no reason for it to have a vinyl version. That's all I have to say.

@rongalaxy: Isn't most music recorded today recorded digitally?

It's not happening to a great deal, but we're slowly getting a few on vinyl. There's the Hotline Miami 2 soundtrack that was released a few months ago, and pre-orders recently went up for Journey's soundtrack as well.

Oh man, those two should be great. Weirdly those two were not listed on the wikipedia entry.

They're both being sold on iam8bit's website.

Hotline Miami 2: http://store.iam8bit.com/products/hlm2

Journey: http://store.iam8bit.com/collections/journey/products/journey-vinyl-soundtrack-2xlp

Also a note to any would-be buyers, it looks like this will be the final pressing for the Hotline Miami 2 soundtrack, so if you want it you best jump on it sooner rather than later.

Right now I have my eyes on the Journey Soundtrack Vinyl (here). There was the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World game soundtrack as well, but I don't know if you can get it new anymore. (The empty Amazon.ca page). BioShock's soundtrack came on vinyl as well, in some very limited edition of the game I believe. And as the OP stated Red Dead Redemption had a vinyl soundtrack. And of course theres that awesome Hotline Miami 2 one (here)

There aren't too many game soundtracks on vinyl but I feel like the ones that sound be put on a record are.

@barrock: yup, which is why when you buy vinyl you should look out for that. The point of vinyl is voided if the music was recorded digitally. I sound like a total snob about this, but I'm not even that into buying vinyl. I guess people can like what they like, but I think its a rip off.

@smtdante89: Thanks for this duder. Ordered both.

The Sword & Sworcery soundtrack is still available on LP. It does have the added value of how LPs are significant to the game.

i hate myself for not having bought this:

machinarium's soundtrack is so. fucking. good.

Capcom was way ahead of you!

But, yeah, there have been several recent video game soundtracks on vinyl. Bioshock 2 was pretty notable for including a vinyl copy of the soundtrack in the collector's edition box.

uh, unless, like me, you prefer to play music off a rich sounding 96khz analogue sound system, rather than a compressed file from a noisy computer.

@fisk0 said:

Bioshock 2 was pretty notable for including a vinyl copy of the soundtrack in the collector's edition box.

Just to set the record straight, BioShock 2's collector's edition vinyl selection is the original BioShock score by Garry Schyman. That particular release is entitled I Am Rapture, Rapture Is Me. I own that recording along with both vinyl editions of Power Glove's fantastic Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon score.

@mmk86: Does the Blood Dragon record have Friends from Miami Connection on it? The artist would probably be listed as Dragon Sound. I would try and find a copy of that record just for that song.

@clairvoyantvibrations: Unfortunately not. That would've been a nice touch!

The one I have been most tempted to buy was the Wolfenstein one which was all the covers and was entirely in universe.

Totally should have bought it but it was a limited run

http://web.archive.org/web/20140702155537/http://store.bethsoft.com/brands/wolfenstein/neumond-classics-superhits-of-the-1960s-lp.html

@hh: Plus vinyl isjust fun to collect. Different colors with big, awesome artwork.

I got the Hohokum vinyl because it is/was only $10. It's pretty cool.

Wasn't there a giant collection of Final Fantasy OSTs on vinyl released a while ago? That definitely should count.

Also, I have this. Doesn't really deal with videogames, but I think it looks cool and is a great EP.

I was also lucky enough to snag a copy of the Final Fantasy VII picture disc set before it vanished. I think there have been a number of Final Fantasy arrangements on vinyl, such as this one.

There was a promotional Persona 4 Arena vinyl release in the UK (not my picture).

@mwng: Is Arena's music from Persona 4 or different stuff?

I'd love to have the Final Fantasy soundtracks, especially Xi.

@barrock: It's a different soundtrack. You can find it on youtube. I also got one, and it came with it on a regular CD too making the vinyl mostly pointless. They realise it was a gimmick.

Far Cry 4's being released as a 3 disc set. A Megaman best of is being released exclusive at Hot Topic as a picture disc. Will later be released as a regularversion at other places. A new label has started that will focus exclusively on video game vinyl. Their first releases will be Shenmue and Streets of Rage.

Since I made this thread The Last of Us, Shenmue, Streets of Rage, Street Fighter II, Battletoads, Banjo Kazooie, and Perfect Dark have been announced.

This Banjo cover is nuts.

@barrock: I just ordered the Perfect Dark vinyl today, and am waiting on delivery of the Journey vinyl. I still don't have a player.

@barrock: Man that cover is creepy.
I might have to order Street Fighter 2

My Hotline Miami 2 vinyl that I pre-ordered at the beginning of June should be here by Friday this week. I absolutely cannot wait.

Also: That The Last of Us vinyl set looks beautiful. I love the music from that game in the context of the game only, so I won't be buying it, but it's a nice set no matter what.

I picked this up at the store today.

So listen to the uncompressed version from your computer instead. Rongalaxy's point that there's no reason to buy vinyl of digital music is in part correct. The point of vinyl is lost when what's being put on it is already a digital recording and not an original analogue recording. I'm not trying to say you're wrong for how you enjoy your music, but other than the aesthetic feeling you must get from listening to it through vinyl there's no difference between your digital recording on vinyl and uncompressed audio from a computer, particularly if you compare like for like equipment such as speakers. That doesn't account for actual analogue vinyl recording from when it was mastered properly but for digital recordings.

Hohokum released it's soundtrack on vinyl which looks pretty nice and is much more reasonably priced than some of the other offerings lately. And I think that's the only real reason to get soundtracks on vinyl is because often they look fantastic. If I ever got that HLM2 album I'd never listen to it, I'd frame it with the gate-fold open all the way and the records below it.

@jesus_phish: actually, if you are making an analogue copy of a digital recording, the recording process will lack the warmth that an all analogue recording and playback would deliver, but the medium of vinyl will naturally have a warmer characteristic, so there is a difference, really noticeable in bass, and electronic music, compared to a digital recording played on a digital player.

also an analogue system does not have it's limitations pre-set. computer playback, like a cd, has specific limitations and can't go beyond them without horrible results. a well produced vinyl - even of a digital recording - will push the limitations of the medium and use naturally occurring errors such as harmonic distortion to make the recording sound better, something you can't do with digital playback. pushing the volume on digital results in horrible distortion, but on vinyl the distortion has the space to sound good.

so the aesthetics involved are all audio-based and all worthwhile if you care about that kind of thing.

Personally, it's not really about the sound when I buy vinyl. I just think vinyl is a neat form of media, and really enjoy collecting the special edition soundtracks for the thing I love.

@mwng said:

I was also lucky enough to snag a copy of the Final Fantasy VII picture disc set before it vanished. I think there have been a number of Final Fantasy arrangements on vinyl, such as this one.

There was a promotional Persona 4 Arena vinyl release in the UK (not my picture).

They're doing one for Persona 4 Dancing All Night as well.