Even back in my early days of collecting game music, the first Ys soundtrack I ever bought was a crap SM bootleg. Since that time, I bought two real Music from Ys CDs to make up for it. There were a few others too, that I bought as bootlegs out of ignorance and since then managed to get real copies of. But back then, the convention circuit was filled with bootleg soundtracks. I remember seeing tons of Dragon Quest CDs and just being in awe. I even remember seeing bootleg Falcom Special Boxes back then too. Everyone just assumed they were the real thing. In those early days I never met anyone who told me they weren't genuine. Thanks to the internet you can find lots of helpful information on them now, and with this article and more to come I'd like to contribute as well. The point I want to make is that the composers know about the piracy of their work, and I have a real story that proves it.
This was the second time I met Mr. Koji Kondo in May 2006. First of all, he remembered me from Mr. Uematsu's Tower Records signing event the previous day, which was remarkable considering all the fans he met over a two day period. I think I was one of the lucky few who managed to meet him at Tower records that day. I know a lot of people didn't recognize him.
It happened at the Chicago premiere of Play! at the composer meeting event. I had tons of CDs with me, and it was so hard to decide which ones to bring, and even harder to carry them all around. Anyway, when I approached Mr. Koji Kondo, I presented my Zelda Windwaker and Ocarina of Time soundtracks to him for signing. Here's where something great happened. Before signing, he looked over both CDs carefully and said softly: "Japanese". I knew immediately that he was confirming the authenticity of the discs, and I thought that was so cool! I wonder if anyone out there has had a similar experience...
More to come, including pictures of bootleg Ys soundtracks and real ones to compare them to.
1 comment:
Looking forward to your next update, regarding this.
Post a Comment