Arcade ambience

One of the things I love about Microsoft's forlorn Game Room service is the background sounds of other games being played.  It effectively recreates the buzzing, beeping ambience of an arcade that was such an evocative part of the experience - even if you didn't notice it at the time.

During this week's Giant Bomb podcast, the guys mentioned a website containing downloadable MP3s of arcade ambience.  Rather than just going for a generic mash up of games, the creator Andy Hofle, has chosen four years and used the sounds of classic games from those eras.  Each recording is about an hour long and was done using MAME.  The games you'll hear are as follows:

1981

Asteroids, Astroblaster, Berzerk, Centipede, Crazy Climber, Crushroller, Defender, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Galaga, Galaxian, Gorf, Missile Command, Moon Cresta, Mousetrap, Ms Pacman, Omegarace, Pacman, Phoenix, Qix, Rally X, Scramble, Space Invaders, Spectar, Tempest, Venture, Wizard Of War.

1983

Bagman, Bump n Jump, Burgertime, Congo Bongo, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong 3, Donkey Kong Jr, Elevator Action, Food Fight, Galaga, Gyruss, Joust, Jungle Hunt, Kangaroo, Mappy, Mario Bros, Millipede, Moon Patrol, Mr Do, Ms Pacman, Pengo, Pleiads, Pole Position, QBert, Robotron, Sinistar, Stargate, Star Trek, Tapper, Time Pilot, Track & Field, Tron, Xevious, Zaxxon, Zoo Keeper

1986

Arkanoid, Bank Panic, Bubble Bobble, Commando, Excite Bike, Flicky, Galaga 3 (Gaplus), Galaga, Gauntlet, Ghosts N Goblins, Gunsmoke, Hat Trick, Hogan's Alley, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Jail Break, Kid Niki, Mag Max, Marble Madness, Ms Pacman, Pacland, Paperboy, Punch Out, Rampage, Road Fighter, Russian Attack, Sky Kid, Spelunker, Super Sprint, Star Wars, Tiger Heli, Time Pilot 84, Two Tigers.

1992

Altered Beast, Arkanoid, Cyberball 2072, Galaga, Golden Axe, Klax, Neo Geo (Magician Lord, Baseball Stars Professional, Nam 1975), Mortal Kombat, Ms. Pacman, Raiden, Roadblasters, Street Fighter 2, Smash TV, Tetris, TMNT, Toobin, Xybots. Pins: Black Knight 2000, Elvira, Fun House, Whirlwind.

I have to say, I think he nailed them all and chose some great years for coin-op games.  Even if you don't like all of the games used, there's no denying you have probably heard them playing in an arcade at some point during your childhood. Sadly, the website hasn't been updated for nearly 3 years and some of the mirrors no longer work, so if you want to have a listen, I suggest you do so pronto.

http://arcade.hofle.com/

MTW