Retro Game Music Bundle hits copyright issues, loses Duke albums
The Retro Game Music Bundle features previously unreleased soundtracks and special remix albums for classic games, and when we first heard about it, the deal sounded almost too sweet to be true – and now it partially is. The bundle received a takedown notice from an entity claiming ownership of music in the Duke Nukem 3D, Duke Nukem II, Major Stryker, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, and the Nukem 3D: Remixes albums, and those are now removed from the website entirely.
Before launching the Retro Game Music Bundle, the team signed contracts with copyright owners, but now a separate group is claiming ownership of some music, resulting in the removal of those albums, Bundle frontman Chris Crawford told Joystiq.
"All of these releases were created by our team, and we spent a little over two months putting these albums together with brand new recordings from an authentic Sound Blaster 16 with DOS installed (remember that?), brand new artwork and a ton more work," Crawford said. "Particularly special: We had many tracks on the Duke Nukem 3D soundtrack that were put together and mastered by Hyperduck Soundworks – the guys behind the Dust: An Elysian Tail soundtrack as well as so many other great things. They did an excellent job, and we're very sad the world isn't able to grab it."
Crawford and the Bundle team also put together the Duke Nukem 3D remix album, with songs by Disasterpeace, Virt and other composers. He is working to get all of the albums reinstated in the Retro Game Music Bundle. For now, the team added three albums to the second, $10-or-more tier: Nimble Quest, Potatoman Seeks the Troof and Pixel Perfect Micro.
The Retro Game Music Bundle is available for three more days, with tier one (spend $1 or more) now including the soundtracks for 7th Guest/11th Hour, Myst, Jazz Jackrabbit 1 and 2, and Tyrian. Tier two has 12 albums, including Shadow Warrior, Jazz Jackrabbit 3 and Double Dragon Neon.
