We've got a pretty interesting mix of game soundtracks for the month.  Any prospective purchases in the batch or notable releases that I missed?

New albums
09/02: Shadows of the Damned OST
09/03: Tekken: Blood Vengeance OST
09/07: Tales of Xillia OST   [Play-Asia]
09/07: Tales of Xillia OST Limited Edition   [Play-Asia]
09/14: NieR Tribute Album -echo-   [YouTube]  [Play-Asia]
09/20: Gears of War 3 The Soundtrack   [Amazon]
09/21: Gradius the Slot OST   [Play-Asia]
09/21: Rom Cassette Disk in Sunsoft Disk System ver.
09/21: SQ Chips   [home page]  [Play-Asia]
09/21: We Are Rock-Men!   [forum topic]  [Play-Asia]
09/28: Raiden Retro Game Music Collection EX   [Play-Asia]

Box sets
09/14: Seiken Densetsu Music Complete Book   [forum topic]  [Play-Asia]
09/22: Konami Shooting Collection

Edit: Added Gears of War 3 The Soundtrack

this is a darn good month. I've already preordered the Mana box set. I might also preorder SQ Chips and the Nier arrange album. Tales of Xillia might be awesome as well... it looks like the Tales team is really putting a lot into that. Is it primarily Sakuraba?

Strong interest in SQ Chips, Tales of Xilla, We Are Rock-men!, and both of the box sets. I already own almost all of the Seiken Densetsu soundtracks, but the collector in me really wants the box set regardless. It's just such a classy looking package!

Sadly, bills are still weighing me down and work is just as stingy as ever. Probably focus on We Are Rock-Men! and SQ Chips. Both of those should be attainable and they sound really promising!

I've got the Mana box set pre-ordered as well as SQ Chips.  Should be a good month.  I'm interested also in what the We Are Rock-Men disc will sound like.

SQ Chips looks like the first good SQ album they can bring after the three failures.

Much to my surprise the samples for SQ Chips on the official page along with the reasonable 1890 yen price have me set on buying it on release.

We Are Rock-Men will be a buy as well if the other tracks match up to the early preview we heard.

The arrangements for NieR Tribute Album actually sound pretty nice from the YouTube samples, but I'm not sure I was impressed enough with the OST compositions for any arrangements to win me over.  And the Seiken Densetsu box set is tempting but I'm content to just build my SD collection piece by piece.

Curious what the Basiscape crew have done with an anime soundtrack in Tekken: Blood Vengeance but I suppose there's plenty of potential for disappointment there as well.  Did anybody spring for the earlier iTunes release?

*spits out drink*

Okay for as awesome as you are, Adam, we have VERY different tastes in VGM sometimes. 

Edit: I just listened to some of the SQ Chips samples and wow, that's pretty cool!

I wasn't either wowed by Nier at least as much as everybody else was. Many people of that time stated this was the best soundtrack ever or such, but aside of a couple tracks, I found the rest rather mediocre. Don't say it was overrated, if it's the way their ears caught it.

NieR has a unique (among VGM albums) concept and there are certainly some standout tracks on there but for the most part despite the nice dressing I found the compositions forgettable.  I'm well aware many of patrons here feel otherwise though.

It appears we'll agree on SQ Chips at least.

I ordered the Shadows of the Damned soundtrack as soon as Grasshopper put it up for sale.  Hopefully I get a signed copy!  My order number was 70-something so that's a good.. sign (pun very much intended).  The only other release this month that excites me is We Are ROCK-MEN!  If the whole CD is as stellar as the sample video, it's a guaranteed purchase.  Curious to hear the Dead Island soundtrack but I'm not buying the Polish collector's edition of the game, so I'll have to "sample" it some other way.  KONAMI SHOOTING COLLECTION would be nice to have in my collection, but too pricey for me at the moment.

And don't worry Adam, I've got your back on the whole NieR issue.  An okay soundtrack with many pretty tracks but way overrated and mostly forgettable.  Don't let these NieR fans bully you around!

And I thought i was the only one who didn't fall for the Nier overhype.. ^^;;

I didn't care much for "More" or the Christmas album. The original "Love" SQ didn't thrill me, but it was okay.

But Chill SQ? With the glaring exception of the shitty FFVI Aria track, I thought Chill SQ was fantastic. Tracks 2, 4, and 5 especially, just absolutely solid arrangements in my mind. The only problem with Chill is that it's too damn short. Which is one thing I think SQ Chips will remedy. Huge, diverse tracklist.

This is turning into a fricking FFVII-level pendulum of fanboy love, backlash, and return.

Just remember that the overrated-ness came from the fans themselves, not some media hype machine.

FWIW I adore the Nier soundtrack. I won't "bully" anyone into agreeing with me. Just saying, I think it's awesome.

Yeah, sorry, didn't mean my single off-hand comment at Adam to degenerate this thread into a Nier bashing fest.    To be honest, I completely overlooked that soundtrack until I played the game and I think a lot of my love for it comes from how well it works in a game that I also thought was totally awesome (and easily the best console title this generation with the Square Enix logo on it).

prolly at least check out SQ Chips. really been liking chip tune music a lot for some reason lately. samples have sounded good. album graphic also 100% endearing. would make a good poster.

havent checked out nier,should do that at some point. never got bayonetta ost yet either

Rock-Men for me! It's how arranged Rockman music SHOULD sound (and how a few current doujins out there do sound). My only prayer is it's not compressed to hell like a lot of recent VGM rock has been recently.

Konami Shooting Collection is nice, but I have a lot of the represented product already.

Adding the newly announced Gears of War 3 The Soundtrack to the list.  According to the newsletter I just received from Sumthing Else Music Works, the score is actually going to be a collaborative effort between Gears 1's Kevin Riepl and Gears 2's Steve Jablonsky.  Pretty cool.

EDIT: Whoops!  Sumthing Else just sent another newsletter retracting their statement about Riepl being on board for Gears 3.  Looks like it'll just be Jablonsky.  Ah well.

Yamaoka has decided to autograph all copies being shipped overseas.

I'll pass on that Seiken Densetsu "Car Payment" Edition. But the Shooting soundtrack from Konami sounds intriguing. I'll consider it.

And maybe I'm too much out of the loop, but can someone explain SQ Chips to me? I see a lot of Final Fantasy related material, but what type of arrangement are we talking?

chip tune arrangements of stuff that wasn't originally chip tune to begin with, chip tune meaning 8-bit styled synthesized.

"SQ" because all the themes are from Squaresoft / Square-Enix games, not just Final Fantasy, but from their other games as well.

link w/ samples: http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/page/sq/sqchips/

Okay, now I get it - I remember Rockman coming out with some "Chip Tunes" in the past. Listened to the samples...will consider it. Thanks.

PS: Is that クルル I see dancing to the beat? Not often I utter the description, but "cute"...!

Caved in and bought the Shadows Of The Damned soundtrack.

I think the Blood Vengeance soundtrack is very cool, it's exactly what I expected a Tekken movie to sound like.

It is similar in style to the cinematic music in the 'Scenario Campaign' mode of Tekken 6, which is the part of Tekken 6 that Sakimoto and Basiscape composed.

Here is the intro movie of Tekken 6's Campaign mode for example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59hiGV4C4Xw

I just ordered We are Rock Men from Otaku. I'm stuck on a reduced spending plan for a while, so I can only stick my nose in places where it smells really good.

Oh yeah, it is the 21st, isn't it? Think I'll make my order this weekend. Definitely a good month to bring me back into the fold.

Something called the Tekken Tag Tournament Complete Sound Track has appeared on iTunes.  It looks to be a digital re-release of these two albums but with a few tracks omitted.