Video Game Music YouTube
I can’t get enough of these vibey compilations and beautiful animations
I have been typing and focusing on the computer a lot more than previously for this blog. I worked in breweries for three plus years starting just before the pandemic shut down and before that I had a job with a windows tablet for most of my work. Post-college I did very little besides occasional email and banking on my laptop. I lost a lot of skills that pertain to the computer over the course of the last six years or so. With that I am working on my typing mostly, but also my ability to sit at the computer and focus on writing. It takes a lot more than the time than just writing to make these blog posts, I almost have to warm up to it. I can’t just dive in. Although occasionally I have a minute right when I have an idea and I can dive in with a draft on my phone, that’s not common. Usually I have to consume some other blog posts or watch a video essay on Youtube before I fully dive in. Then maintaining focus becomes the struggle. I obviously can’t listen to anything like a book or podcast, which then leaves music. A lot of the music I like most has words and messages and something to say pretty directly, which also distracts me. My brain can’t help but go along with the words. My solution for pretty much the entire time I’ve been working on this blog has been video game music compilations on youtube.
Each video I find reminds me a bit of Lofi Girl, the YouTube music channel dedicated to lofi tunes that has the animated visual of a girl studying as the background. If you don’t know Lofi Girl, I’d like to share a bit right now. I don’t specifically love Lofi Girl enough to create a whole post about her, but I think we owe her a lot.
Lofi Girl was started by YouTuber ChilledCow in 2015, and was a channel dedicated to streaming lofi “beats to relax/study to” with a repeating animation of a character from Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart. If you don’t know the term/genre “lofi,” check out the channel and you’ll get the vibe pretty quickly, especially if you hear a lofi version of a song you already know. Here’s some cool lofi Stones for reference: The LoFi Rolling Stones
There have been repeated takedowns of the Lofi Girl channel for copyright issues, including not being allowed to use that footage, but the stream is up and running now and seems to have been going continuously since July 12, 2022. Anyway, this channel became a phenomenon. It has been referenced in memes, mimicked beyond flattery, and has completely entered the lexicon. Lofi Girl even has merch and lore. I am glad we live in a post Lofi Girl world, and I am thankful for the positive contributions the internet has given the world.
The videos that I have zeroed in on are a version of this format that is video game focused. There are literally thousands of these, so you can dial in even further if you really loved Mario or Zelda games growing up. I am going to share a couple channels that I like, but please dive into YouTube if you’re curious and I am sure you can find something that scratches an itch for you in particular. What I am watching have a few things in common, first of which is that they have a short, looping background. Most commonly this is pixel art. Pixel art lends itself well to a short, colorful, beautifully animated video background. Sometimes it is actual game footage. There are a ton that are someone just walking their character around their Animal Crossing world while Animal Crossing music plays. If you’ve been reading the blog, you will guess correctly that I like these ones. The second thing is that there is usually a sound effect playing in addition to the music. Usually it’s rain, a cracking fire, running water, or something similar. This all ties the background, music and vibe together into one thing.
Probably my favorite right now is Fancy Fox Gaming. Fancy Fox is great at this and the taste in music is just my style. The visuals and mixing are done well, and there’s never any words or major distractions. Two of my favorite videos specifically are the rainy day one and the crackling fire, but I often just listen to the latest stream or whichever one YouTube puts on my home screen.
These videos work very well for me to get into the zone. They do have me checking the song semi often, because I recognize it, but I want to know from where. Very common sources that hit me are Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, and Halo, but there are surprising ones as well, like Wii menu themes. There are also a ton from games that I have never played that are so good. I started playing Dragon Quest recently, partly inspired by hearing some incredible music in one of these videos.
The nostalgia hits and good vibes that flow from these videos have added to the blog as a whole, and I have some awesome creators to thank for that. Video game music doesn’t get enough credit outside the video game world as being great, but some of the best composers in the world are creating music for video games, and some of the best musicians in the world play it. Super Mario Galaxy in the Wii was the first Mario Game to use a real recorded symphony, and the result was incredible.
Super Mario Galaxy Live Orchestra Recording - Gusty Garden Galaxy
Video game music will come up again in the blog because it has had a pretty profound impact on my life, and it regularly brings me great joy.
This one has rustling leaves and starts with The Roost theme from Animal Crossing, so naturally I love it.
LoFi Girl is the background music for every class today. How did I never know about this channel?
so ~vibey~ I love it