Hearing video game music in places you'd least expect it

I just came home from a few amazingly relaxing hours of wellness in a sauna.

Everything was the usual, but then the Saunameister (apparently there's no official English word for that profession, but it's basically the guy in charge of the heating process) was doing another Aufguss (again no official word? Does no one in English speaking countries visit saunas, what is going on? Anyway it basically means he's pouring water on the heated stones to get the temperature up/produce steam.) and usually this is accompanied by either some classical music or by completely terrible "music" featuring pan flutes, rushing waterfalls and animal noises (It sucks.), but this time around a familiar tune started playing.

The Legend of Zelda theme was playing, followed by more Zelda music and finally the theme from Castlevania. It was weirdly surreal and let's just call the reactions confused and mixed at best (There's mostly old folks around in that particular sauna, so no real surprise there.)

I still have no idea what the hell happened there, or if this will ever happen again (I kinda doubt it.), but this really made me think if other people had had similar experiences at some point, where they where suddenly exposed to gaming music in a place they'd least expect it.

Anyone else have a story too?

I was staying in a Hotel one night and popped downstairs to go to the off license. Took a short-cut through an alleyway and there was a homeless dude there who asked me if I had a couple of euro. I gave him a few euro and before I turned the corner I heard Guile's theme playing. I look back and he pulls a phone out of his pocket and starts talking. It was his ringtone. On the way back through the alley I gave him a couple of my beers.

I was in a Williams-Sonoma a few months ago and I swear they were playing an instrumental piece off the Persona 4 soundtrack.

I was watching a Dallas Stars game, and there was a fight, so the PA guy played the Punch-Out!! theme.

@splodge said:

I have so many questions about your post.

What is an "off license?" I assume that's a term from where you live, but I've not heard that before (ever) in the US or abroad so I am just curious about that (because I like to learn new things =) ).

How... how does a "homeless man" have a smart phone? How do you not immediately question that? If he's homeless he doesn't have electricity so even if he does just happen to maybe still have a smart phone it would die the first day. He'd never be able to pay the bill so it wouldn't work. And if he was on hard times he'd probably sell the smart phone for some money. There is so much about that that kind of boggles my mind!

Why would you give him beers after learning this? He totally played you! Or maybe just your assumption of him being homeless played you. I don't know; that situation seems so crazy, and to top it off (my favorite part of your story) it never dawned on you, or at least it seems by the way you tell it, that something incredibly odd and funny just happened (the idea that a homeless person pulls a smart phone out of his pocket playing Guile's theme after you give him some money is so hilarious to me haha).

To be fair, the incredible absurdity of all that would have made me give the guy a beer, too.

Sorry, I really liked your story and that's why I guess I'm dissecting it. That's too funny.

The college radio station here was using Animal Crossing music (this one) during set breaks.

Off license is a place that sells booze! Liquor store basically.

He had a phone, I am not sure how smart it was. I have seen plenty of homeless people here (Ireland) with phones, they are fairly cheap and I think some of the homeless foundations give them phones so they can keep in contact and have something they can use to improve their standard of life. Having a phone makes a lot of things easier. In his case, it probably made buying heroin easier, but I don't judge! I always assume any money I give to homeless people goes into their arm. It's the only comfort they have.

I guess I gave him a few beers because he was only a little bit older than me, and it was kind of jarring tht he at some point was into videogames. There but for the grace of god go I. OR as my mates dad would say, "The right woman, the right friends, and the wrong decisions is all it takes to end up on the street".

I have had a few wacky adventures with homeless people in the past. I once sparked up a conversation with two homeless lads in the city centre. I went home and rounded up all the half-full bottles of liquor we had and brought it in to them. They invited me around the fire and we talked shit all night and I listened to their stories, it was really nuts. Then when I left one of them gave me a book that he had. Only later I realised he gave me one of like 5 things he owned. The homeless always have really interesting stories.

Chrono Trigger battle theme in a porn video.

I heard the Illusive Man theme and the Galaxy Map music from Mass Effect during a science program about space. Appropriate use, I'd say.

@splodge:

Off license is a place that sells booze! Liquor store basically.

Cool. I love learning new things! =)

He had a phone, I am not sure how smart it was.

That's fair. I have had a smart phone for a month so the label itself was used generally speaking just because it's what's on my mind when I think of a phone at the moment. I should have said cell phone.

I have seen plenty of homeless people here (Ireland) with phones, they are fairly cheap and I think some of the homeless foundations give them phones so they can keep in contact and have something they can use to improve their standard of life. Having a phone makes a lot of things easier.

That's cool. Where I live now a days this is an insane concept for many of the reasons I listed before, but that's interesting to me that it's so widely done that it's normal where you are. Difference in culture here. Sort of a culture shock thing. In America not all beggars are actually homeless and some people make a living pretending to be homeless (no lie). I think there have been documentaries about that. I share that in the hopes that it helps explain my perception of that story.

In his case, it probably made buying heroin easier, but I don't judge! I always assume any money I give to homeless people goes into their arm. It's the only comfort they have.

Me either, but I don't want to get into that.

Wow. I learned a lot of new stuff today. Thanks! Very cool. =)

Walked into a local, family-friendly, ice cream shop and they had the Hotline Miami soundtrack going.

@cornbredx: A bit more info on off licenses: it specifically means that a shop is licensed to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises, as opposed to a bar which is (obv) licensed to sell alcohol for immediate consumption (my dad once told me this was an "on licence" but I'm starting to think he was winding me up).

There was a trailer for an episode of Homeland that used the Leaving Earth song from Mass Effect 3. Complete with Reaper noises.

@thomasnash: There are similar things in the US although I'm not sure if the name is the same (it could be, I don't know that much about liquor licensing in general).

Ya, hmm, that's interesting.

@liquidsaiyan3 said:

Nothing says family-friendly like Hotline Miami. Also I recall hearing the band back in high school play some video game music. Don't remember what it was exactly.

I was in a history class and we were shown a documentary on Galileo. And suddenly church choir music started playing, took a second till i realized it was the theme to Medieval II Total War

Somebody had the bright idea of using the Mass Effect 3 "Leaving Earth" music in a preview to "Germany's next Top Model" on TV which was incredibly hilarious to me, cause Heidi Klum (the moderator of the show) always looked like an Alien to me.

I'm almost positive I saw the same documentary at some point.

Oh...

@donchipotle: I probably saw that promo and didn't even know.

(I got suckered into watching Homeland)

Punch-Out!! music used during hockey fights here in Dallas. Corneria metal remix also used to pump crowd back up after commercial breaks.

A local gun shop used To Zanarkand in their radio ads as background music for a woman talking very seriously about home defense.

This one time, I was walking to the 711 by my house and had my Ipod on shuffle. The moment I stepped foot in the store, the store theme from Ocarina of Time began playing.

I nearly shit.

In Michael Cera's hit summer comedy, Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Clearly I knew not what I'd signed up for.

@sessh: Americans have saunas, but they're basically indoor heated rooms where people sit, wearing towels, or small, warm, bubbly pools. And they're mostly only found in gyms or hotels.

No personal experience with hearing video game music in other places, but I read once that some of the Medal of Honor music showed up in Battlestar Galactica or something, because they shared a composer.

Mass Effect's Galaxy Map theme during a commercial for a TV sitcom. Least they could have done is use it for Cosmos or Doctor Who, but it was like, CSI or Blacklist or something.

Alos, I work the early morning shift at Superstore and sometimes before the store opens, whoever's in charge of store music plays the Junes theme from P4. Gonna get creepy come January when I'm walking to work when it's foggy.

Hey, Homeland has been fantastic for the last couple episodes! Just don't talk about season 2/3.

Not music, but hearing the Sonic ring-pickup sound effect in stores still makes me double-take.

@dezztroy: Yes! The last couple (haven't gotten around to watching the last one), but not the first 6 that might as well have not existed and we would've been okay, story-wise.

A few episodes into the second season, I started to go back and watch everything on-demand after everyone told me to, and it was great until I caught up.

I'm kind of like Patrick with shows.

To be on-topic, I still get bummed when Saints Row 3's menu music is public domain and used for NBA promos on ESPN or background music for shows on the MLB Network.

@mikelemmer: Same here. I always hear that at convenience stores. I know its there but I'm never prepared to hear it.

I thought this was this other thread for a second.

Now that's my kind of ice cream shop. Do you remember which track it was?

I am clearly out of the loop. What drug is "Ice cream" slang for?

I was watching Chopped of all things, and recognized they used the menu music from Midnight Club 3 at one point. I think it's probably just an instrumental version of an actual hip-hop song, so maybe not exactly "video game music," but that's what I've got. It was still strange.

My college dorm had this piano in our common area. One day while I was down there this guy sits down and starts playing "To Zanarkand" from Final Fantasy X. It was pretty great.

Walking through a fairly upmarket clothing store in Dubai when i visited last year, Mortal Kombat theme was playing really softly in the background it really weirded me out.

I've also heard this song on MLB Network, it seems to get around, lol

Top Gear tends to use a lot of game music -- they crib liberally from soundtracks in general.

@ryalm: Yeah most of the menu music in SR3 is just royalty free stuff.

Deus ex icarus theme at a sandcastle expo weird as heck.

I always hear Mass Effect music in procedual crime shows promos, there's one for a show called crossing lines and everytime I hear it makes me want to go back and play the Lair of the Shadow Broker mission.

@dizzyhippos: If a certain GTA: Vice City side mission taught me anything, it's cocaine.

I was watching a BBC science show about space that started using the Mass Effect galaxy map music. It's incredible how versatile that soundtrack seems to be.

of all places, I heard the sonic ring-collection sound play at a random gas-station rest-stop in Connecticut. it went off every time they rang an item at the cash register...caught me off guard, but it was unmistakable

Heard this years ago on MTV Germany. The music is from Oblivion, Peace of Akatosh I think.

@medacris: Okay, thanks for clearing that up, I was really wondering what was going on.

Dare I ask if this specific porn video had an RPG theme also?

Yeah, didn't see that one. Forum/Site are still all kinds of busted.

There's of course that famous 90's techno song (Kernkraft 2000 or something?) that everybody keeps bawling in soccer games, which is ripped from David Whittaker's soundtrack for the Commodore 64 game Lazy Jones (sampled without permission, even, Whittaker apparently got a pretty good sum of money for it afterwards).

I wouldn't know the track name, but I would recognize it if I heard it again.

Are you a cop?

@jaypb08: I've heard the same thing actuall but the sonic ring noise went off everytime someone went in or out of the store. Not a bad "welcome/goodbye" chime if you ask me

I heard a song from the Bionic Commando Rearmed soundtrack in my college's gym while I was conducting an interview there.

Saint's Row 3 music is in quite a lot of commercials, most notably NBA ones. I mean I guess there's some overlap in audience but a lot of that music is just weird in a non video game context.