I have to admit that I have something of an affinity for video game music. I suppose the games I've played have had that profound of an effect on me. I guess it makes sense since I am aspiring to make video games myself; so, I should be plenty versed in the genre. I might alternate my interest, though: for a while, I might listen to video game music, then I'd go back to listening to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, and then I'd get into listening to the soundtracks for Star Wars and RoboCop; variety is the spice of life.

Anyway, here's a couple of websites of key interest:

[Zophar's Domain]
This site might perhaps be amongst my favorites. Besides hosting an array of programs that enable game ROM hacking as well as several popular hacks themselves, Zophar's Domain also features a vast library of game music files. Formats include NSF (Nintendo Entertainment System), SPC (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), USF (Nintendo 64), PSF (PlayStation), and PSF2 (PlayStation 2). Most of the content on this site is stored in ZIP or RAR format, so you will need [WinRAR] to decompress the data. Zophar's Domain also features various programs that enable you to play these music formats, but my most preferred method is ...

[Winamp]
This audio player is a favorite of mine. I find it to be very mobile and I usually transfer it to whatever office I'm working at so that I may enjoy music. Zophar's Domain and Winamp's own site feature plug-ins that allow you to play game music content that you downloaded from Zophar; experiment (with caution) and find out which ones are your favorites. However, usually when I take Winamp with me from workplace to workplace, I normally only use it to play NSFe (a variation on the NSF music format) and SPC files since these formats usually have smaller file sizes and the other formats seem to really tax the computer's resources. I believe that if you "go Pro" and manage to find the right plug-ins, you'll be able to create MP3s from the game music files that you can play on your portable player like I did.

[Galbadia Hotel]
The vast nature of this site is jawdropping. Galbadia Hotel is a comprehensive library of soundtracks either rendered from official soundtracks or independent efforts. I'll be damned to know as to how they managed to rip soundtracks for some of the arcade games! I've not heard of a lot of the names here (a lot of them seem to retain their Japanese titles) and I suspect that anime soundtracks are also in the mix here. You will notice that there are no soundtracks for any of Final Fantasy games available here, and I feel the most logical reason for that is ...

[iTunes]
If you have an iPod, then you use iTunes. If you browse the store, you'll be able to find a couple band remixes of classic game tunes probably worthwhile looking at. You are also able to find the soundtracks to several of the Final Fantasy games for those of you who might be die-hard Nobuo Uematsu fans. So, iTunes: it's a buck a tune.

[OverClocked ReMix]
The influence that video game music has had on those with actual musical talent is quite remarkable. This site is host to several remixed versions of classic game themes, sometimes incorporating unusual genres to take a particular spin on the theme. Though while I feel at times that some of the remixes are in bad taste, generally the administrators vigorously screen, critique, and moderate content before it is available on the site.

[Video Game Music Archive]
I felt this site was worth honorable mention. This site features a staggering library of MIDI files written by fans, updating obsolete game machine instruments with the MIDI instrument library. The quality and comprehension of each of these efforts vary; some are pretty good, some don't really sound like the original song at all, and some are like a fork on a ceramic plate. The MIDI file enjoys the luxury of being small, but unfortunately is unplayable on any portable player I know of. However, I feel there are MIDIs in this library of good taste and are excellent and civil renditions of classic tunes. This may be a site of interest to those who have music-producing software and are interested in playing or making music.

[VGTunes]
I thought I should also give an honorable mention to this one, but I don't know much about it. It is a very sophisticated-looking site that features soundtrack ZIP files for download. Several of the soundtracks available for download state that they require a [FilePlanet] subscription. I can't give much information on this; explore at your own caution.