RE-VGM

I’ve got good news and bad news. First the bad news: there will be no Masters of VGM this year and for the foreseeable future, as there was no one able to pick up the mantle. And now the good news: a bunch of other podcasters decided to carry on with their own event, called the VGM Hall of Fame! Simply put, participating podcasts put forth an original soundtrack from a video game to be on th...

Today, on August 8th, we are celebrating International Cat Day. First put together by the International Fund for Animal, this day honors on the most popular pets, with an estimated 350-370 million cats owned and about 480 million that are strays or feral. There are 75 recognized breeds of cats (according to The International Cat Association), and between TICA and CFA (Cat Fanciers’ Associati...

HTTP, HTML, Gopher, Mosaic… If you recognize these words, then we were there when the World Wide Web was just beginning. Today, on August 1st, we’re celebrating World Wide Web Day, that online place where we browse the pages, game with friends across the world, and stream our favorite videos, music, and podcasts. Tim Berners-Lee is the father of the World Wide Web, creating and buildin...

July is about to end, which means it’s time for our special episode of “On Stage Now”. It’s an episode where I step back after introducing a musician of covers or remixes of video game music and play their works for all to hear. This month, we’re featuring Smooth McGroove. A virtuosic musician of acapella, Smooth McGroove (real name Max Gleason) has been performing co...

Today we’re celebrating the arcade release of Street Fighter IV in Japan, back in July 18, 2008. The following month, August 12th, it was released in the North America regions. In 2009, it was ported to consoles in February and later July to Windows. As the first original main entry in the series since Street Fighter III back in 1997, SF IV features 3D models and backgrounds yet maintains th...

The open road lays ahead of you. You look far down the lane and then mount your two-wheeled stallion. With a turn of the key, the beast between your lets roars to life. You twist the handle, coaxing its combustible instincts, and then, after kicking up the stand, you accelerate your way onto the road. The wind rushes about you as the sun bears its heat… Today, on the second Friday of July, w...

Today, on the Fourth of July, we are celebrating Independence Day properly… Well, on Episode 22, we celebrated the Fourth of July with video games about America in some form. This year, we’re celebrating with video games that highlight independence and freedom: a colony sailing to the New World, Allied Forces fighting against power-hungry regime, and a one-man army up fighting to take...

June went by fast, with today as the last Friday of the month. That means it’s time for our special episode of “On Stage Now”, and this month’s musician is Rachel Hardy. Rachel Hardy has lived and breathed music since high school, when she started posting videos of her covers of music from video games and other popular media on YouTube. In the meantime, she’s earned a...

This past Sunday was Father’s Day, celebrated on the third Sunday of the June. Similar to Mother’s Day, this day honors fathers and dads of all families and relations. Sure, they work hard to earn a living and at times offers words of advice or humor, but they may feel dutiful to protect their family and their children. Their presence may be felt or absent, yet fathers can provide some...

One of my favorite days of the week, Friday the 13th, which means it’s time for something superstitious and mythical. Previous episodes have discussed fear (#15), death and dying (#51), video game superstitions (#92), RNG or randomness (#136), and Christmas (#149). For this Friday the 13th (the only one happening in 2025, in fact), we’re discussing a few superstitions and myths during...

On June 6, 1993, “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening” was released on Japan for Nintendo’s Game Boy. It would later be released in the North America and European regions on August 6th and December 1st respectively, and then the following year worldwide. It was initially developed as an attempt to port “A Link to the Past” from the Super Nintendo Entertainment...

May ends within two days of this post, and that means it’s time for “On Stage Now”, our special monthly episode in which a cover or remix musician is featured. This month’s musician is LucasGitanoFamily, a Frenchman who’s been learning to play rumba gitana since six years old and influenced by the Gypsy Kings. He has toured the world over, showing his ability to impro...

The open road – an invitation to those ready to take the wheel and drive solo or with companions. Destination: unknown. We’re celebrating National Road Trip Day, which happens on the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend. According to Pilot Flying J, it is the “unofficial” start of summer travel as people pack up their cars and work out their itineraries to visit the place...

Today, we celebrate the Microsoft Windows release of Terraria, on May 16th, 2011. A 2D action-adventure sandbox game, Terraria contains several RPG elements with its 16-bit world. You’ll explore several biomes or environments, discover and gather resources for crafting, and build your shelter, equipment, and items to help you explore deeper and fight harder enemies and bosses. You can also a...

Today we’re celebrating Europe Day… wait, wasn’t Europe Day on May 5th? Yes, and yes, but hear me out. This date for Europe Day, May 9th, celebrates the Schuman Declaration, established on May 9, 1950, between France and Germany to pool their resources in coal and steel, so as to make war impossible between themselves. Later, in 1993, the partnership has led the foundation of the...

Space… the final frontier. A place seen as void of life yet it holds a certain mood of curiosity. It has stirred many to advance the sciences for possible exploration and discovery. And today we’re celebrating National Space Day, on May 2nd. This day, originally created by Lockheed Martin as Space Day, was meant to encourage students to think about a career in the aerospace industry. L...

The end of April nears, which means it’s time for our special episode of “On Stage Now”. This month, we’re featuring TeraCMusic. TeraCMusic is a musician who’s covers are mostly done in string or with vocals. She learned to play the piano and violin at a young age, though she has also added the guitar and violia. With re-imagined and re-invented arrangements, her insp...

This episode is going to be epic! Well, in terms of sites and buildings, because we’re celebrating International Day for Monuments and Sites, also known as World Heritage Day. This day, developed by the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), is to honor and raise awareness of the heritage of natural and man-made monuments and sites. It also promoted the preservation and conse...

Today, on April 11, is the 1997 Japanese release of Alundra, an action-adventure that is considered a spiritual successor to Landstalker. It is about an adventurer named Alundra who finds himself washed onto the shores of Torla. He is nursed back to health in the village of Inoa and finds people dealing nightmares. He learns that he can enter people’s dreams and uses this power to help the v...

They’re feared by elephants yet fancied by its breeders and fans. They’re scorned for carrying diseases yet appreciated for detecting them. They’re considered offensive and selfish, yet some consider them clean and sociable. They are the rats, and today we’re celebrating World Rat Day, in honor of these fascinating creatures of science and society. For a time, rats were tho...

The end of March is near, which means that we’ve got a special episode of “On Stage Now” to feature a musician of covered or remixed video game music. For this month, our featured musician is ToxicxEternity. ToxicxEternity has been shredding covers of VGM since 2008 on his YouTube channel. While most of them are by him alone, at times he’ll do a collaboration with another m...

5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Whether it’s waiting for the new year, watching the microwave clock to finish, or wondering how the game will finish, the countdown can stir excitement or build suspense. Today we’re celebrating National Countdown Day, first established by National Day Calendar, to honor those last few numbers until the end or beginning of an event or moment...

Today, we’re celebrating National Pi Day, that constant value of 3.14159265 and so forth. It is the result of the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Though it’s often used to calcuate a circle’s area or a sphere’s volume, pi is also used in geometry and physics. The Exploratorium Museum of Science, Art, and Human Perception, located in San Francisco, f...

“Hello?” “Moshi moshi?” “Diga?” “Wei?” “Allo?” Today, we’re celebrating Alexander Graham Bell Day, in honor of the man who created and invented the telephone. The date, March 7th, marks the date in which the U.S. Patent Office granted the patent in 1876. It was made out of necessity regarding mother who was becoming hard of hearing....

My, what a short month is February, which means it’s time for another special episode of “On Stage Now”, where we feature a cover/remix musician and their works. This month, we’re featuring JemyMusic (real name: Jemy Hiiragi). She’s an electronic musician, keyboardist, and performer. She posts on her YouTube channel videos of her covers and remixes of video game music...