Nintendo Made a Music Streaming App For Video Game Soundtracks

Nintendo has announced a mobile app called Nintendo Music, which lets users listen to classic video game soundtracks from Nintendo games spanning the last few decades, including Splatoon, Animal Crossing, and The Legend of Zelda. According to The Verge, the app is available on iOS and Android but only Switch Online subscribers will be able to stream the tunes. From the report: The app features curated playlists themed around games, moments, moods, or characters, though you can also build your own. It also supports streaming as well as downloading tracks for offline listening. Curiously, it includes a spoiler feature that lets you filter out tracks that, somehow, might spoil a game you haven't played or finished yet. And if you just want some Hyrule white noise, the app also lets you "loop songs or extend select tracks to 15, 30, or 60 minutes for uninterrupted listening." Here's a list of all the regions the app will be available in.

Whelp

[dpille]

And there I thought I had no use for a Switch Online subscription. It's gonna kill me when I find out it's a significant fraction of the cost of my actual music streaming service subscriptions.

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[_xeno_]

Not to mention that unless it's a native app coded specifically using the tools that Apple or Google provide for making a native app, I can almost guarantee that it's secretly just a web app. Pretty much every "mobile app" framework that targets multiple platforms is really just an embedded browser. Except for apps written by the platform owners, almost no "app" is really a native app, they're almost all web apps that you run in an app shell to give the appearance of a native app.

Given the mix of iOS and Ma

Superior alternative

[Ormy]

https://ocremix.org

Fan-made remixes of videogame soundtracks covering all genres of music. Jenova remixed as a disco tune or for classical piano? Sonic tunes remixed into hiphop with lyrics? Dr. Wily's theme with a full orchestra? All there, all completely free. Some tracks are a bit amateurish, but the majority are mixed to a very professional quality. Downloadable on a per-track or per-album basis from the website, or you can save them some bandwidth costs and download everything in bulk via torrents. Donate via patreon if you can. (I am not affiliated with this site, just a long-time fan).

From the 'about us' page on the website:

Founded in 1999, OverClocked ReMix is a community dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form. Its primary focus is ocremix.org, a website featuring thousands of free fan arrangements, information on game music and composers, resources for aspiring artists, and a thriving community of video game music fans. In 2016, OC ReMix officially moved under the umbrella and sponsorship of Game Music Initiative, Inc, a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization (EIN #81-4140676).

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[AmiMoJo]

The danger is that Nintendo starts trying to enforce game music copyrights on platforms like Twitch and YouTube where people make a living playing their video games.

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[codebase7]

Pretty sure Nintendo would take down the stream regardless if it's using the music or not.....After all the visuals are theirs too, and they've been hostile to streamers before.

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[AmiMoJo]

Currently people can stream and upload Nintendo games without issue. The problem will arise if they start to set up automatic copyright claims on the music.

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[i kan reed]

Nintendo already has a reputation for taking down video game music youtube videos.

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[matthiashj]

Why would remixes be superior?

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[ephemere]

They're not necessarily superior; as Ormy said, some are quite amateurish. But there's some very well-produced music on OCRemix. I haven't been on there in quite some time, but here's one of my old favorites from Mega Man 2:

https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR0... [ocremix.org]

Checking it out now. First thoughts

[e3m4n]

Im fairly sure its not embedded browser since I can listen to it in the background while filling out this post. I suspect this product is a by-product of their Alarm Clock. After assembling the sounds and songs for their alarm clock someone probably decided to make it available for those with the online subscription since the work was already done. There is a download option for offline access. I cant see me actually listening to any of this for duration, but I am probably not the target market. Each track

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[codebase7]

Heh, so they send the data for the looping points too? Rippers will have a field day. Wonder if Nintendo tried using any watermarking given that you have to have a valid login to get to the data. Oh, well. I'll just stick to getting the music the old fashioned way.....

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[e3m4n]

Its really nothing worth stealing IMO. I find a majority of it nerve grating.