Episodes

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, we’re celebrating National Motorcycle Day, to honor this vehicle that has become a symbol of freedom of th...

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 back America. Of course, we’ve got covers and remixes to follow each track. Fire up the grill, cook up some bu...

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 an education in music (B.A. in Music from University of Calgary and Professional Certificate in Composition for Film and Music fro...

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 wisdom and guidance in life. For this week’s episode, we’re celebrating Father’s Day with several tracks from ...

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 the summertime, according to Grok (an AI assistant). We’re playing tracks from video games that have or mention...

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 System to the Game Boy but it became its own project under the direction of Takashi Tezuka. In 1998, it was re-released for the Game Bo...

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 improvise his solos. Lucas is on a mission to teach others how to play, no matter what level of experience. His YT channel shows lots ...

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 places and see the sites. For some, it’s the journey that matters, with good food, great conversation, and some travelling music...

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 attract certain NPCs that can offer services or sell special items to you. For this week’s episode, we’re ...

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 European Union, to ensure economic synergy and political cooperation. Now, as for May 5th, that date was when 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. Later, John Glenn, a former astronaut and U.S. senator, changed the name to National Space Day. We’ll be playin...

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 inspiration comes from several composers, including Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Koji Kondo. She has also collaborated with o...

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 conservations of these important places due to their significance with local and regional heritage. Some examp...

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 village. However, more people continue to die and those alive become more suspicious of Alundra. For this ...

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 thought to be terrible and offensive because of religion and The Black Plague; they even had a sport of filling a pit with rat...

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 musician. He’s also part of a band called Singularity. Lately, he’s been spotted out in the wild, having performed live rece...

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. In fact, the date itself is a countdown (3/21). Everyone has at one time encountered a countdown, for the New Year, until the film starts,...

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, first celebrated National Pi Day back in 1988; it was later formally recognized by Congress in 2009. While some try to memorize th...

“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. While the first telephone was a large cone, it has evolved throughout the years, from a handset with a cradle that sat on the table or stuck on a wall, to a device ...

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, along some original compositions. On another social platform, Jemy has a diary in which she posts her drawings. Jemy has contri...

On this date, February 21, 1986, “The Goonies” video game was released for Nintendo’s Famicom (Family Computer); it was later ported and released on the computer (PC-8801, X1, MSX), for the arcade (VS. System, Playchoice-10), and the Famicom Disk System. The game was based on the film of the same name, which was released in the United States on June 7, 1985. It follows the adventures of one member of the Goonies trying to save the rest of the game while avoiding the Fratellis. Today, we’re cele...

Ah, the power of love… it’s a wonderful feeling that can carry you through the day, especially when it’s rough. Sometimes, love can all you to do additional things or learn more about someone. Intimate connections aside, love can be many things. We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day by talking about the waifu (or husbando). Loaned from the English language in the 1980s, it was an alternative Japanese term to more intimately describe your person of interest or significant other. During the 2000s, bo...

It’s time to party! We’re celebrating three years of covers, remixes, arrangements, and orchestrations of video game music on RE-VGM. The first episode was published on February 4, 2022, with its first look at “Dearly Beloved” and its covers and remixes by musicians. Since then, and with a quick retooling, each episode has been a celebration of many things: what’s happening on that day, the games that have been played, and the tracks that have been listened and added to playlists. We have a blo...

Welcome to the first monthly special episode of “On Stage Now”, where we feature a musician with a playlist of their covers, remixes, and inspired tracks. This month for January, we are featuring Martin Skar Berger, a musician who goes by Skar. He was first featured on Episode 120, for National Poker Day, for his cover of “That’s the Way It Is”, from Red Dead Redemption 2. Since 2014, Skar has been posted videos of his metal guitar covers of video game music. Along the way, he has collaborated ...