Game music recognition contest

Here's a contest in which the goal is to recognize game music. Identify the games for 10 different game tunes, and you win US$100. Simple, right? So where can you find the music? All 10 of the tunes can be downloaded as MP3s right here:

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If you know where all 10 of the tunes come from, e-mail me with a list of where each tune comes from, and you win. Please be a bit more descriptive than just providing the name of the game; try to briefly explain where the music occurs in the game or how you can make it play. For example, instead of saying "This tune is from such-and-such game", say something like "This is from level 30 of (game title)", or "This music plays when you turn on the TV in (game)". Just a short line for each tune will do.

Below are some questions which you might have about this contest... If your question isn't answered here, or if you just want to drop a line, feel free to e-mail me.

Why are you doing this?

For fun, mostly. I'm curious to see how many people get in on it, and there's no surer way to attract most people's attention than with real money. Consider it a sort of social experiment.

If I win, how do I get paid?

Through PayPal. Send me your PayPal account e-mail address and I'll send you the money. If you don't have a PayPal account and, for whatever reason, think that it might be a serious problem for you to open one, let me know and we can try to work something else out; generally, though, I expect actually winning the contest to be much more difficult than just opening a PayPal account, so if you go to all the trouble of downloading and identifying the 10 games, getting a PayPal account should probably be the least of your problems.

How did you choose which games and tunes to use for the contest?

There weren't really any special criteria that I went by; I simply picked some of my favorite game tunes as a baseline, then mixed them up a bit and tossed in some other tracks to balance out the list a bit, so it wouldn't be too focused on one platform or style of game. The list definitely reflects my own personal gaming slant: There's a focus on a particular platform. This is simply because I tend to know more game music from that platform, but I'll let you figure out which platform that is. I will say that most (but perhaps not all) of the tunes are from computer games, i.e. not console systems.

How many people can win?

Just one. The first person to correctly identify all 10 tunes is the winner, and the contest then closes.

Can I get partial credit?

Sorry, but no. If you can tell me 9 out of the 10 tunes, you don't get $90. Only all 10 count.

Can I work together with other people to win?

Sure. I'd prefer that you not post the tune information as spoilers on the web, but if you want to get together with some of your friends and see if you can identify the tunes together, go ahead. But if you win, you'll have to split the $100 among yourselves; there's only one prize, so if a team of several people win, they won't get $100 each.

How long will this contest last?

Hopefully until someone wins. If this takes a while, I expect to keep this offer extended for quite some time (perhaps several years), but I reserve the right to end the contest at any time if nobody wins.

On what date did this contest begin?

This contest page was put up on February 18, 2007.

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