Video Game Music for the Holidays - Volume III

The holidays are now in full swing and with it, those yuletide songs of the season.  If you're looking for some variety to these holiday hums, then you've come to the right place as we continue our collections of music from video games, carefully selected to still fit the holiday vibe and general ambience.

This week's volume was compiled back in 2015, which held a difficult and sad memory with the passing of Nintendo's president and one of the world's kindest souls you'd ever meet, Satoru Iwata.  He had such a joy and passion he shared with everyone, and contributed to so many beloved series that remain as renowned classics to this day.  As such, this album contains many tracks from Earthbound, a beloved classic by many to which he imparted a large role while working at HAL.  This compilation also contains several songs with lyrics, which help impart some heartfelt messages and add a nice variety to the mix.  So if interested in viewing the lyrics while listening, make sure to click the CC Closed Captions icon in YouTube.  And stay tuned each week as I upload another past collection of tunes for your listening pleasure, all leading up to the release of this year's Holiday Ambience: 2017 Edition.

Go to the playlist on YouTube for time stamps to jump to the desired track, and for links to support some of these many talented artists.  If you have a particular favorite track or other notable music from games you wish to share, please comment and discuss below!  Thanks and happy humming!

Fun Fact: Earthbound designer, Keiichi Suzuki, cited John Lennon as an influential figure to the development of the game's soundtrack, as his songs about love matched up with the tone and feeling of the game.  As such, you'll notice many homages in both melodies and text to songs by Lennon and The Beatles.  Legal issues between these similarities were rumored as to why there was such a delay for Earthbound ever being re-released, but these rumors proved to be untrue.