Episodes

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear amusement park? The booths and the prizes big and small? The exhibits? The animal shows? Or perhaps it’s the sight and sound of a wooden or steel structure that dominates the landscape. It has a line of connected cars that race along a guided track that winds its way up, down, and sometimes loops around. It has various nicknames: The Cyclone, The Big Dipper, The Matterhorn, Montezuma’s Revenge. Yes, I’m talking about roller coasters, and we...

Rack ’em and line ’em up! Make sure your cue stick is straight and the tip is smooth. Pick your shots and make them count, because if you miss the pocket or sink the cue ball, that’s a penalty. We’re celebrating, on August 9th, National Billiards and Pool Day, the table top sport played with a rack of colored balls and a cue stick. The term “billiards” first appeared in the 15th century to describe the indoor version of croquet. As the sport became popular after adding pockets, people started p...

Sometimes, when you’re in the mood to unwind and relax, you want to reach into the chest, wade through the mounds of ice, and grab one of your favorite beer can or bottle. After popping it open, you take a slow slip of your brew, enjoying its flavor and taste. You let out a sigh after taking the last gulp and settle into your chair. For this week’s episode, we’re celebrating International Beer Day, a day to celebrate this honored beverage, crafted to near perfection, served at your favorite res...

Welcome to the fourth and final special episode for The Masters of VGM event. The name Rika Muranaka instantly brings up one of the most popular and beloved video game franchises, Metal Gear. For almost 20 years, Muranaka has written and produced the music for Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear series, starting with Metal Gear Solid and on to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. With a background in jazz music, her tracks are memorable to all who have played the series. In addition to video games, she has...

Here we are, week 3 of Master of VGM, and our third episode focuses on Miki Higashino. Miki Higashino is a Japanese video game composer who is known for her work in the Suikoden series (Gensouisuikoden). She was born on January 1st in Osaka, Japan. At an early age, she learned to play piano and often listened with classic music with her father. She often sang church music while in middle and high school. Higashino later enrolled in college in the composition department. She applied for a positi...

Welcome to our second episode for Master of VGM! This week’s composer is Yoko Kanno, a composer, arranger, and music producer of anime, video games, TV dramas, and movies. Most anime fans will recognize her music from several anime (Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Turn a Gundam, Wolf’s Rain, Macross Frontier) and movies (Kamikaze Girls, Honey and Clover). Video game fans may know that she’s been the main composer for the Koei series ‘Nobunaga’s Ambition’ and several other games. We’ve got tracks f...

It’s good to be back on the mic… Welcome back, everyone. I hope all of you listened to any episodes last month in relation to “Masters of VGM”, a community-wide event among all participating VGM podcasters talking about and highlighting composers of video game music. This year’s theme was female, lesbian, and gender-queer composers. While the event was over, I’ve decided to spend this month in July doing such episodes. And for this week’s episode, our first composer is Aki Hata. She’s is a Jap...

Yup, it’s time for our monthly episode of “On Stage Now”, featuring Vector U. Known as “your friendly neighborhood EDM VGM remixer”, he’s been turning the tables and adjusting the sliders for several years, remixing music from video games and anime. He’s collaborated with several cover/remix musicians, including Noteblock, Qumu, and P2. He’s also contributed to a couple of albums with GameGrooves. Vector U recently attended MAGFEST this year and was seen playing music with Noteblock, P2, and Th...

Hello, racing fans! Today we’re celebrating NASCAR Day, on the third Friday of May. NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) is a sanctioning and operating company best known for the motorsports of stock cars, vehicles built specifically for racing, and this day aims to bring awareness of the sport to the general populace. It’s also a day used to help raise funds to the medical expenses of children. We’ve got a lineup of tracks from video games related to NASCAR: an arcade dedicat...

Today, we are celebrating National Golf Day, in honor of that single-player sport that pits you against the forces of nature and physics, with the goal of hitting a small, dimpled ball into a hole that is several hundred yards away, with as few strokes as possible. Sounds easy? Not when you must face many hazards along the way. We’ll be hearing tracks from golf video games: a franchise series involving a company mascot, a course that is out of this world, and a game with players from other fran...

On this day, May 3rd, we’re celebrating Sun Day (originally International Sun Day). Proposed by Denis Hayes and established by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 by a joint resolution, Sun Day celebrates that shining star in the middle of our known galaxy, the sun. Along it providing light and heat, the sun can be harnessed as a source of power with the use of solar panels. We’ll be listening to tracks that feature or use the sun: A warrior hunting the vampire that stole his Solar Gun, the blue bom...

Here we are, with a special episode of “On Stage Now”, and this month’s featured musician is Ruscel Torres. Ruscel has been learning and playing music since the age of seven, first learning the piano and then other instruments, including the saxophone. He creates jazz arrangements and covers from video game music and anime. While most of his works have been solo, Ruscel has also collaborated with other musicians. At the moment, he is taking a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies as a freshman at t...

Sometimes you got to know when to go all in, and know when to fold your hand. On April 19, we’re celebrating National Poker Day, a holiday to celebrate that popular card game, whether it’s 5-card stud or Texas Hold’em, played at a friend’s house or within a casino. This holiday was created by a Texas radio personality named Rick McNeely, who goes by the name DJ Rick. Nothing to bluff here, as he also created other holidays (National Selfie Day, National Hamburger Day, and National Video Game Da...

Any person who’s called a company or office has been through this scenario: You’re calling to speak with someone in a department or make an appointment. You may go through several menu options or, if you’re lucky, you spoke with a person who received your call. Suddenly, after punching in the last option or finishing your sentence, you may hear the line click and then a voice say, “Please stay on the line while your call is being transferred…” That blasted music starts playing. You can either st...

Who remembers unfolding a physical map and reading it on the hood of your car or held up over the dashboard? Bonus points if you were able to fold it back up to its original state. Most people who grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s may remember these road maps, either from a visitor’s center or gas station while on vacation or on a visit to a local AAA office. They may also remember being able to buy a Thomas Bros. guide book at a convenience store like Rite Aid or Walgreens. Nowadays, maps are a...

It’s time for our monthly special episode of “On Stage Now”, where we feature a VGM musician and their works of covers, remixes, and arrangements of video game music. This month, we’re featuring String Player Gamer (nom de plume for Diwa de Leon), a musician known for his signature instrument, the electric violin. He was smitten by the music of “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” at the age of 11, yet, despite being born into a family rooted in music, he bristled at the idea of such a car...

Better late than never, I suppose… This week’s episode is a tribute to one of the world’s most famous manga artist and illustrator, Akira Toriyama. He is known for the creation of Dragon Ball, a series franchise that is currently in manga and anime, as well as video games. He also illustrated for several video games, such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Tobal No. 1. Sadly, he passed on March 1st of this year, as announced by Bird Studios a week later. As of this episode, the wo...

How lucky of you (or maybe unlucky) to see that this St. Patrick’s Day episode is running for the third time. I suppose you’re expecting to get some special anniversary swag, like Primogems, or better odds at getting that certain Super Secret Rare character; all I have to offer is an episode of tracks from more gacha video games, along with their covers and remixes: a trainer with a stable of racing horse girls, a teacher leading a team of students defending a city against a threat to humanity,...

Today is National Retro Video Game Day, celebrating a special time in the history of video games. Sure, we could debate about what constitutes ‘retro’, but I believe it’s more important to consider why March 8 is a special day: it is the birthday of Ralph H. Baer, considered by many in the industry as “the father of video games”. Thanks to his “Brown Box”, he foresaw the potential for the television to be used for home entertainment, at a time when the production and manufacturing costs of telev...

When was the last time you’ve been to a cafe or bar and ordered your favorite beverage? I bet that beverage was hand crafted by someone who may know you like it done: double blended, extra syrup, on the rocks, shaken not stirred, and served with your favorite garnish. If you’re a returned patron, you may have a favorite barista who knows your preferences and take some time chew the fat with you. Today, on March 1st, we’re celebrating National Barista Day, in honor of those people behind the bar...

Welcome to the February edition of “On Stage Now”, featuring our first vocalist, Lollia. Lollia is an independent creator of various media. She is known for her covers of music from anime, video games, and popular musicians, along with some original music. She has collaborated with many other artists (such as OR3O) and creators (such as Sleeping Forest). Prepare yourself to hear covers of your favorite video game, from a voice that is brighter than the spotlight, stronger than steel, and tende...

It was on February 16, 1995, that SEGA published and released a Genesis game titled Ristar in North America, a single-player platformer about a star that travels the Valdi star system to free the leader of each planet from the mind control of Kaiser Greedy. He bears no weapons, no magic, or psychic abilities; only two long arms that reach out so he can headbutt his enemies, traverse the area, or find hidden places for special treasure. While this game made him a main protagonist, Ristar has been...

Mama mia! It’s time for some pizza! When was the last time you had yourself a slice of pizza with your favorite toppings? Or ordered a box or three for a gathering with friends or club members? According to a survey by Grubhub, cheese pizza was the fourth most popular food that Americans craved (the pizza margherita was number 46). It’s become one of the staples of food, along with hamburgers, hot dogs, and wings, for sports events, birthdays, and family outings. This week, we’re celebrating Na...

Whoa, happy birthday RE-VGM! This week’s episode marks two years of video game music and their covers, remixes, and arrangements. While not as awesome as reaching one year or having 100 episodes, it’s still quite an accomplishment for any young podcast. We’ll be playing blocks of tracks that highlight last year’s host of episodes: Masters of VGM, On Stage Now, and a focus on certain video game titles. Yes, I’ll be waxing nostalgic about these as well. Enjoy these tracks and perhaps you’ll have...