First VGM purchase (s)?

[GoldfishX]

What was your first VGM purchase and why did you select the album / albums you did? Where did you buy the albums from? Do you still have them?

Technically, my first purchase was the X-Men 2 Clone Wars Sega Tunes CD. My mom found it in a used CD store and thought I might be interested in it. This was sometime in 97-98. Anyway, it was cheap (around $5) and mostly due to my SNES loyalty, I never really listened to it (X-Men 2 was a Genesis game). To be honest, I still haven't (aside from the badass "Sentinel Core Escape").

My first REAL VGM purchase was from The Place back in mid-1998. The soundtracks were FFVII OST (the game had come out around that time), Rockman 2 The Power Fighters (really the only classic Rockman music available on CD at the time) and Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter (Marvel vs Capcom OST was out of stock, so I figured this would be a good substitute). It took them 2 months to fill the order. But it was SOOO worth it.

[Cedille]

Tactics Ogre in my local store. I simply adored the game and its soundtrack, and had been already totally wowed by the same composer's previous work. I even didn't own a CD player at that time ;p I still partially own it, but the case is cracked hard and the booklet has many spots.

[Yotsuya]

Seiken Densetsu 3, I ordered it from the back of a gamefan magazine back in the early 90s. I was familiar with Secret of Mana's music and loved it, so I thought why not give it a try. I remember feeling a little let down, I guess I prefer Secret of Mana, but its not a bad soundtrack, I really liked 'fly sister fly' and a few others. For awhile all I had was disc 2, but I think I finally threw that out a few months ago.

More recently I got Chrono Trigger, the playstation soundtrack and that got me into vgm collecting.

[Nisto]

FINAL FANTASY VII Original Sound Track. Sadly the SQEX re-print though (now replaced with the DigiCube release however).

[Ramza]

All around the same time I got a SonMay copy of the FFVIII and FFT OSTs. And then that same week I also got a legit copy of the Alundra OST (from AnimeNation!). That was my first legit game soundtrack. And I still love that soundtrack. So good.

[Boyblunder]

Pretty much the majority of vgm collectors start out with Final Fantasy stuff and I am no exception. I bought a few bootlegs of course (didn't know they were bootlegs), EverAnime I believe. So yeah first LEGIT was Final Fantasy VII,VIII from the same place.

[student41269]

First ever VGM CD for me was Ocarina Of Time - miraculously, not a bootleg but a legit copy from Game Music Online. I remember paying a lot for freight to the UK, and then turning white when I was also charged customs & duty fees upon its arrival. Harsh early lessons. I believe I took off the obi and threw it in the bin with the shrink wrap Still, having Hyrule Field and Zora's Domain on my stereo at last was the main thing.

Originally Posted by Ramza

All around the same time I got a SonMay copy of the FFVIII and FFT OSTs.

That bootleg of FFVIII was an early purchase for me too. Oddly enough, my copy came with a few official Triple Triad cards inside... did they all?

[GoldfishX]

I remember Soundtrackcentral had a page outlining what to look for and how to avoid bootlegs. There were tons of places that used to sell them back in the late 90's, even Animenation (they phased them out around the same time Game Music Online did). The Place developed a reputation for being one of the few sellers to never sell bootlegs, but their service times and on-hand stock were beyond horrendous (EVERYTHING had to be special ordered).

If I recall correctly, my second order was the US version of Street Fighter Alpha 2 Mixxes and a bootleg of Dracula Battle Perfect Selection (which was non-existent as a "real" version at the time...I held off on Dracula Battle II because I didn't recognize most of the tracks, heh). Somewhere around this time, I bought bootlegs of Final Fantasy Pray and Grand Finale from a local shop, but that was partially because I didn't feel they were worth being $30 CD's. Funny thing is, I've gone through 3 legit copies of Grand Finale (bought and sold), still have the bootleg.

[alexbip15]

My first purchase was Nintendo Sound History Series: Zelda the Music bought it from a store that sells retro games & gaming related media. I bought since I'm a huge Zelda fan. Luckily it was the original I wasn't really aware of bootlegs at the time.

[_if]

I think my first was ordering Final Fantasy XII off of Amazon's marketplace. Figured that would be trustworthy enough, but it turned out it was a K-O bootleg. Not to endorse that type of thing, but it's actually a surprisingly well put-together package, different from the official one, in a taller, slimmer box, with the booklet printed on glossy paper instead of the rice stuff. It's missing some stuff that the legit one has, but at least it's unique and not just a total copy. Anyway, I replaced it with, not one, but three official limited edition ones when Game Music Online was going out of business and they cost $15. Also got two Dirge of Cerberus limited editions for $10 apiece, Gradius V for something like $15, and "Melodies of Life" and "Suteki da Ne" singles and a couple other Sumthing Else soundtracks just because they were all like $3. I wish that site was going out of business forever.

[CrossMitsuda]

Aside from some VGM alongside preorders of certain games, my official VGM purchase was three years ago (which is actually when I started collecting VGM), it was Chrono Cross and the Lost Odyssey soundtrack. Both are fantastic but Chrono Cross is my personal favorite one of forever. Not a single song in there that deserves a 'skip'.

[aquagon]

In my case, my first soundtrack would be the Ar tonelico III Original Soundtrack, as importing anything from Japan isn't an easy task where I live.

[JILost]

First purchase: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Re-Arranged in March 2003. I was so impressed the first time I heard it that I decided if I were ever to get in a situation where I were able to purchase video game music, this would be the first. I actually ordered a very large number of albums with it, but it was the first one I searched for and the first one added to my gamemusic.com cart.

First acquisition: Super Mario 64. I ordered from a couple different places the same day and it turned out that the lot I ordered from somewhere else (though I can't remember where) arrived first. SM64 stands out as being -the- first because it was the one I brought to work with me the day I got it, and thus my first memory of listening to an actual physical CD of video game music. As much as I love Koji Kondo, "Super Mario 64 Main Theme" has never sounded as good as that day on the way to work.

[Kimimi]

I think my first was an Ever Anime bootleg of FFVII, back when I didn't know the difference (and in fairness I don't believe the store did either). I bought a few more bootlegs from them - Panzer Dragoon Saga, Sonic Adventure, Ocarina of Time... of course I'd prefer originals now but at the time that just wasn't an option and I was grateful to have VGM that I hadn't taped off a sound test

I'm pretty sure my first legit purchase was the Sonic Adventure Remix album - funnily enough I regret buying that more than the bootlegs!

[Porter]

May 18, 2008 (from CDJapan): Gran Turismo 3 A-spec, Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

I was searching CDJapan for anime music and than in suggestion box find some red interesting cover and clicked on samples and after I heard these two samples I was sold:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKMQJ19pSx4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0vHVVNgjF4

[pepak]

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

What was your first VGM purchase and why did you select the album / albums you did? Where did you buy the albums from? Do you still have them?

The first was The Dig, bought probably for the enclosed demo for Full Throttle rather than the music to The Dig. Although it is possible the name Michael Land (Monkey Island!!!) played some part in it. I bought it in 1996 in Best Buy while I was studying in the USA, and I still have it (and still love it).

The first game music CD bought specifically because I wanted the music was the Turrican soundtrack, bought from Synsoniq in 1997 for a then-outrageous price (poor student...). Of course I still have it and still listen to it.

[Rhythmroo]

First Actual CD I bought that wasn't part of a Special Edition Game would probably be the soundtrack of Chrono Cross from Amazon marketplace. Though--and get ready for this kicker--it was a bootleg! This was years ago before I knew any better on how to spot a fake--or even the existence of this site--so I happily listened to it in ignorant bliss of what I was in possession of at the time.

When I learned how to discern a bootleg from the official soundtrack, I ended up chucking it and any other soundtracks that may have been fake that I either ordered from their and Ebay (again, I stress that I wasn't aware these were fakes--I can generally spot a knock off a mile away from package discoloration).

Now, my first legitimate soundtrack that I bought--again, from Amazon marketplace--was the soundtrack to Eternal Sonata (AKA Trusty Bell in Japan). I was glad that It was real, because it was one of my first impulse soundtrack buys after listening to the battle/boss music from the music player on Eternal Sonata's American website. Very odd though that while I initially loved the soundtrack and valued it in its entirety, it did not age well with me or retain its charm that captured my ears. While I do still love "Pyroxene of the heart" and the battle themes, It was the piano recordings of Chopin's piano music that Stanislav Bunin graced us with that I find of great value (I own a number of CDs of the same collection performed by various pianists, all presenting us their interpretation of the work).

So yeah, that's it. I still own the CD and treasure it as one of my firsts legitimate Soundtrack purchases that wasn't part of a special edition game release like the Growlanser Generations Deluxe edition (Yes I bought the box and Love everything about those two games and arranged music).

[DXAshram]

Mine would be Cuts Unleashed: SA2 Vocal Collection. I bought it off the Internet with my grandparents' permission for my birthday in 2002 or 2003, but the name of the website where I got it from eludes me. In hindsight it surprises me that I was able to get a genuine copy even back then.

[SNKhero]

my first soundtrack was Killer Cuts comes with Killer Instinct "SNES"
and first soundtrack only was Turrican Original Video Game Soundtrack

[eduhunter]

I'm new in purchasing vgm CD's. My first one was Shin Hikari Shinwa: Palutena no Kagami Music Selection (NTDO-17258), in a conversation with a friend about games soundtracks. Before that I was promising myself to buy a CD for a year, just waiting for a good opportunity or incentive.

In my country one vgm album is almost twice the price of an imported.

[The Gambler]

The three FFVI ost releases... bought physically at a local videogame store... Must have been late nineties. they were Son May, but I didn't know at time.

Originally Posted by Cedille

I even didn't own a CD player at that time ;p

Heh, me neither - actually, I had one: my first cd audio player, the original Playstation

[eeeece]

My first game soundtrack I bought was Ocarina of Time from eBay... And yes, it was a bootleg. My first real legit copy was F-Zero X believe it or not :/