Video games and vinyl records.
What can be cooler than this combo? Seriously!
And when they’re in a pretty vinyl packaging, it’s only natural for the gamers and vinyl collectors to go a little crazy until they get their hands on these records (and even crazier when they do).
In fact, even if you don’t own a single vinyl or you hate video games, you’d still be a little tempted to buy one just because they’re beautiful.
Here are some of the prettiest vinyl records of the most awesome video games:
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Table of Contents
#1 GTA V VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Grand Theft Auto V is an action-adventure game played from either a third-person or first-person perspective.
Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. Outside of the missions, players may freely roam the open world.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
A spruced up version of Grand Theft Auto V is coming to the PS4 and Xbox One shortly, and to celebrate Rockstar Games and Mass Appeal Records are releasing an expansive new version of the game’s excellent soundtrack.
The limited edition boxed set will feature 59 tracks featured in the game — that includes GTA V‘s original score, songs featured on the in-game radio stations from the likes of A$AP Rocky and Tyler, the Creator, and even a bit of new content.
Previously the soundtrack was available digitally through outlets like iTunes. The new collection will be available on both CD and vinyl, and only 5,000 copies will be produced — you can pick it up starting December 9th though no price has been announced yet.
The next-gen version of the open world thrill ride, meanwhile, is launching on November 18th.
Why we love the packaging:
The colors of the album artwork perfectly match the custom vinyl records.
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#2 JOURNEY VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Journey is a wordless story told through gameplay and visual-only cutscenes.
The player’s character begins near a small sand dune in a vast desert. Walking to the top of the dune, the character can see looming in the far distance a large, mysterious mountain with a glowing crevice that splits its peak.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
We teamed up with acclaimed artist, Mark Englert, to create original album art that honors the beauty and emotional voyage that players experience when traversing the world of Journey.
The scarf of the Traveler wraps around the album’s perimeter, creating an almost hypnotic effect as it spins. If you pay close attention to the Traveler’s robe, you’ll notice that the embroidery becomes more ornate as you progress from side A to side D — just like each time you beat the game.
Why we love the packaging:
The design of the vinyl is the top view of the album artwork.
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#3 RED DEAD REDEMPTION VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Red Dead Redemption is set during the decline of the American frontier in the year 1911 and follows John Marston, a former outlaw whose wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a hired gun.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
This limited edition collector’s vinyl was released in 2010 as a joint effort between Rockstar Games and vinyl production specialists Wax Poetics.
I’m selling my extremely rare SEALED, MINT CONDITION copy. It was bought and stored in a safe, secure place along with my other vinyls.
The LP comes with a deluxe gatefold jacket, red-colored vinyl record, and an original song produced exclusively for this set in addition to the rest of the soundtrack from the game.
Why we love the packaging:
Red vinyl is always hot and if it’s from a video game, it’s 100 times hotter and because it’s a gatefold, the artwork looks like a poster.
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#4 MINECRAFT VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Minecraft is a dreamscape, a limitless world where anything is possible. Minecraft is a tool, a means of bringing the imagination to life.
Minecraft is a community, a platform on which inventive minds of all ages can share their creations and ideas.
Minecraft, of course, is also a game, the most popular and best-selling video game of all time.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
For the soundtrack’s physical release, Ghostly has designed standard black vinyl and digipak CD packages around colorful artwork from the digital version. There’s also a limited-edition LP that brings some extra magic to the table.
Record collectors and Minecraft completists take note: Only 1,000 copies of Volume Alpha will be pressed on transparent green vinyl, arriving complete with a lenticular-printed jacket which gives new depth and movement to the cover’s 3D-rendered image.
Ghostly is thrilled to count this unique collaboration among its already eclectic catalog, and hopes to see the creative inspiration which drives Minecraft and Rosenfeld continue to disperse by virtue of their timeless music.
Why we love the packaging:
Although this game is mainly for kids, the cover art looks like it’s legit artwork that can be put in a museum. Plus, we’re suckers for
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#5 DOOM VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Doom takes place during the year 2149 in a research facility on Mars owned by the Union Aerospace Corporation, run by Dr. Samuel Hayden, a UAC scientist and the head of the facility, whose mind now inhabits an android body after having lost his original to brain cancer.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Laced Records, in partnership with Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company and id Software® bring you the DOOM(Original Game Soundtrack).
Cut at the world famous Abbey Road Studios and “Best Music” winner at The Game Awards 2016,the DOOM(Original Game Soundtrack) brings the trademark pulse-pounding and demon-slaying audio experience to fans for the first time on physical disc.
Composed by long-time Bethesda collaborator Mick Gordon, his intense vision channels industrial metal to mirror DOOM’s trademark fast and powerful first-person shooter gameplay across 20 synth and metal-filled tracks.
Why we love the packaging:
The redness is very diabolical and the text “DOOM” really pops, doesn’t it? Good choice of colors and fonts.
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#6 CUPHEAD: DON’T DEAL WITH THE DEVIL VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
The story, in a nutshell, is that two happy little cups, brothers Cuphead and Mugman go to the Devil’s casino. All is going really well and the Devil offers to raise the stakes; if the brothers win they get to keep all the cash in the casino; if they lose, the Devil will take their souls.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
This is a spectacular sensation of a vinyl set, comprised of so much delicious, fully-orchestral decadence that we couldn’t resist creating a ridiculously complex custom companion package, stripped straight from the1930s.
Designer Jango Snow spared no detail in collaborating with the maniacally brilliant Studio MDHR to create this beautiful folio design, affectionately inspired by record sets almost a century old.
What you’re seeing here is top-tier, first-class elegance, drenched in passion and oozing with embellishments like gold foil and embossments galore. Holding the Cuphead 4xLP makes us smile big. It’s a damn fantastic edition and we think it’ll make you smile too.
Why we love the packaging:
It’s classy and it looks like a classic. It’s vinyl records like these that are worth collecting because it’s likely that they’ll be selling for 50x its price in the future.
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#7 GOLF STORY VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Golf Story is a 2017 video game developed and published by Australian studio Sidebar Games for the Nintendo Switch.
The game was released in North America, Europe, and Australia on 28 September 2017. Golf Story is an adventure game with role-playing elements based on the sport of golf.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
What’s ace about this product is that the record is a striking fairway green color, while arriving with 17 toe-tapping tunes to keep you happy until the Masters. A hole-in-one indeed.
Why we love the packaging:
The transparent green vinyl record looks like candy and the vinyl sleeve artwork looks like stickers.
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#8 GOD OF WAR VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
In God of War, players control Kratos, a Spartan warrior who is sent by the Greek gods to kill Ares, the god of war. As the story progresses, Kratos is revealed to be Ares’ former servant, who had been tricked into killing his own family and is haunted by terrible nightmares.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Mondo is proud to present the soundtrack to Santa Monica Studio’s GOD OF WAR. Composed by Bear McCreary, the soundtrack to GOD OF WAR is truly epic and emotionally powerful.
This album features some of Bear’s most beautiful compositions to date, bouncing back and forth between solemn and sublime.
Featuring original artwork by Jeff Langevin, and pressed on 2x 180 gram Vinyl (Disc 1: Translucent Gold, Disc 2: Opaque Blue). Also available in 180 gram black, both the game and the soundtrack are modern masterpieces.
Why we love the packaging:
The sketch artwork is impressive and what’s interesting is that the white background of the sleeve makes the overall look of the album even more appealing.
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#9 CELESTE VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Celeste is a platform game in which players control a girl named Madeline as she makes her way up a mountain while avoiding various deadly obstacles.
Combining dashes with movement in various ways can be used by the player to gain more speed than usual or access areas before they are supposed to.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Scoring big at The Game Awards, Celeste left a double-prize winner after a stellar debut in early 2018. Initially selling out its original allotment, restocks are now on the way. So, if you do want the option to hear the extraordinary polyphonic tunes like never before, you’ll need to keep your eye on the prize here.
The set comes with two crystal-clear records, that feature 19 tracks from the award-winning soundtrack. Don’t miss out.
Why we love the packaging:
It’s cute but not too sweet because the vinyl is just transparent white instead of pink or any other cutesy color.
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#10 FINAL FANTASY VII VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Final Fantasy VII follows the story of mercenary Cloud Strife, who is hired by the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE—led by Barret Wallace—to help fight the mega-corporation Shinra Electric Power Company, who attempts to drain the planet’s lifeblood as an energy source to further their profits.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
This limited edition release includes a set of two LP vinyl records featuring a variety of carefully selected tracks from the brand-new, highly-anticipated FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, and the timeless classic FINAL FANTASY VII.
Why we love the packaging:
The rugged “steel” design of the album artwork gives this a sophisticated look. Again, nothing too much that it becomes cheesy. Something we can all learn from when designing album art.
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#11 CASTLEVANIA II : SIMON’S QUEST VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
The objective of the game is to travel to the five mansions to find the five body parts of Dracula’s corpse, and the Magic Cross.
The body parts can be utilized to support Simon in the game. For example, Dracula’s Rib can be used as a shield to block any projectile attacks fired from an enemy.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Mondo is proud to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Castlevania franchise with the premiere vinyl release of the original soundtrack to the 1987 Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System sequel: Simon’s Quest. Featuring both the NES and FAMICOM versions of all 9 BMG tracks from the game.
Musically, Simon’s Quest is the origin of one of the most popular of Castlevania BMG, “Bloody Tears.” A staple of the sonic landscape for the series, here it is as the soundtrack to your daylight encounters across the dangerous Transylvanian landscape.
It is one of the catchiest 8-Bit tunes to ever come out of this era of Konami games and an example of the best of what Video Game Music has to offer.
Why we love the packaging:
The glowing green on the artwork perfectly matches the glowing green vinyl, making this a well thought out, unified album artwork.
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#12 HOLLOW KNIGHT: GODS & NIGHTMARES VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Meet fallen kings, gallant knights and ancient gods in this powerful, orchestral collection that brings together all the additional tracks from Hollow Knight and features an entirely new arrangement, Pale Court.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Venture to the farthest reaches of Hallownest with an all new collection of 15 epic tracks. Meet fallen kings, gallant knights and ancient gods in this powerful, orchestral collection that brings together all the additional tracks from Hollow Knight and features an entirely new arrangement, Pale Court.
Hollow Knight: Gods & Nightmares is composed by Christopher Larkin.
Why we love the packaging:
The artwork on the vinyl would surely look good as it spins round and round.
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#13 TRANSISTOR VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Red, a famous singer in a city called Cloudbank, is attacked by the Process, a robotic force commanded by a group called the Camerata.
She manages to escape and comes into possession of the mysterious Transistor—the great sword-like weapon she was to be assassinated with.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
We quickly sold through our first pressing of this deluxe double LP set of our award-winning original soundtrack by Darren Korb with vocals by Ashley Barrett. Fortunately, we have a second pressing of it now available!
The album comes in a gatefold jacket featuring artwork by Jen Zee and lyrics by Darren Korb. Each record is pressed on 150 gram milky clear vinyl, or (now sold out) coke-bottle clear reminiscent of the Transistor’s green hue.
The album includes the single She Shines, along with all the other tracks from the soundtrack’s first debut.
You’ll also receive a download code for a digital version of the track list plus a digital version of the Extended version of the soundtrack, printed on a card included with the vinyl.
Why we love the packaging:
The same reason as the one with clear white vinyl above. The transluscent vinyl balances the colorful artwork perfectly.
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#14 DAYS GONE VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Days Gone is a 2019 action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows. Set in a post-apocalyptic Oregon two years after the start of a global pandemic, former outlaw-turned-drifter Deacon St.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Nathan Whitehead’s beautiful, meditative, yet occasionally terrifying, score to DAYS GONE is one of our favorite pieces of video game music in 2019.
A tragic slice of Americana, this is a thrilling adventure mixed with traditional horror elements. It is equal parts pulse pounding, heartbreaking, and horrifying.
Featuring original artwork by Oliver Barrett, and pressed on 2X 180 Gram colored vinyl (also available on 2X 180 Gram Black vinyl) including four original songs performed by Jack Savoretti, Billy Raffoul, Lewis Capaldi, and Zander Reese.
Why we love the packaging:
The blue vinyl is kinda out of place but that gives the whole design a splash of life.
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#15 SPIDER MAN: MILES MORALES VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
A war for control of Marvel’s New York has broken out between a devious energy corporation and a high-tech criminal army. With his new home at the heart of the battle, Miles must learn the cost of becoming a hero and decide what he must sacrifice for the greater good.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
This two-disc set features all 19 tracks of John Paesano’s original score for the new game. The set is available with color vinyl, with the black-and-red and purple-and-green designs seend above, as well as black vinyl.
Why we love the packaging:
The pretty, multi-colored vinyl!
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#16 RUINER VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
RUINER is a brutal action shooter set in the year 2091 in the cyber metropolis Rengkok. A wired psychopath lashes out against a corrupt system to uncover the truth and retrieve his kidnapped brother under the guidance of a secretive hacker friend.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Laced Records, in partnership with Reikon Games and Devolver Digital, bring you the RUINER (Original Soundtrack) on deluxe double vinyl.
The release includes a selection of 16 of the best tracks from the game including Zamilska, Sidewalks and Skeletons and Susumu Hirasawa.
This limited release is pressed on double 180g black and red vinyl and packaged in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with printed inners.
Why we love the packaging:
Wow, this album artwork is too badass. The inner panels of the gatefold has very detailed art and the colors are consistent.
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#17 METAL GEAR SOLID VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
The game is based on the 1980s Nintendo console classic Metal Gear. Metal Gear Solid is centred on a series of missions undertaken by retired solider Solid Snake.
In the first Metal Gear Solid, Snake is deployed to counteract Foxhound, a special forces unit turned terrorist.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Mondo is proud to present the premiere vinyl pressing of the soundtrack to Konami’s 1998 espionage masterpiece: METAL GEAR SOLID
Pressed on 2x 180 Gram Green Smoke Vinyl (also available on 2x 180 Gram Black Vinyl), and featuring the original song “The Best Is Yet To Come” by Rika Muranaka, and original artwork by Randy Ortiz.
Why we love the packaging:
The smoke/haze design on the vinyl is a killer.
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#18 FLOOR KIDS VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Floor Kids is a new breakdance battle game featuring unique freestyle gameplay, rhythm challenges, and multiplayer sessions.
Innovative controls allow you the freedom to play the way you like with a dynamic scoring system that rewards your moves based on musicality, originality, and style.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
Gatefold double vinyl, full color inner sleeves featuring stories, music and comic panels from the Nintendo Switch/PS4/Xbox/STEAM video game Floor Kids. Floor Kids is the breakthrough breakdance battle video game with original music by legendary scratch DJ and producer Kid Koala.
Featuring 42 tracks and 71 minutes of original instrumental hip-hop and break music from the game, the Floor Kids Original Video Game Soundtrack is a timeless journey across every era of the sound, cycling through silky 70s funk, thumping 80s 808s, granular 90s 12 bit, and 00s synth funk.
An original concept by animator bboy JonJon and Kid Koala, Floor Kids has captured the essence of what makes breaking an art form unlike any other, blending together sound, style, and movement in a radical blast of freestyle expression.
Why we love the packaging:
If it’s too colorful that it’s bordering kitch, black vinyl is there to balance it out (again, just like the clear vinyl examples above).
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#19 TEKKEN VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
Tekken is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Tekken is noted as being one of the first fighting games at the time to use 3D animation.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
30 tracks from the 1994 arcade and 1995 PlayStation titles Limited edition 2xLP 180g yellow and purple vinyl
Deluxe Gatefold Sleeve Laced Records have partnered with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. to release TEKKEN (Original Soundtrack) Pre-orders are now open for the TEKKEN (Original Soundtrack) as a deluxe double vinyl set housed in a gatefold sleeve with original artwork provided by Samuel Donato aka DXSinfinite.
The soundtrack has been remastered specifically for this release, the track list covers arcade and home console versions and will be pressed onto audiophile-quality, 180g heavyweight vinyl LPs housed in a striking gatefold sleeve.
Why we love the packaging:
The solid colors and album artwork reminds us of the old family computer cartridge. Eyecandy but badass.
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#20 THE BANNER SAGA VINYL SOUNDTRACK
About the game:
The Banner Saga is a fantasy tactical role-playing video game developed by Stoic Studio and published by Versus Evil. It was initially released for personal computers and mobile phones in January 2014. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released in 2016, with a Nintendo Switch version released in 2018.
About the vinyl soundtrack:
We were blown away by Stoic’s The Banner Saga when it first launched in 2014! It’s an epic role-playing game inspired by Viking legend that brings skillfully crafted art, story and strategy to a genre all but forgotten.
Much of the epic adventure is conveyed not only through visuals, but also the game’s powerful music. Composer Austin Wintory has masterfully created some of our favorite game soundtracks ever, including the Grammy-nominated score to Journey (a first for any soundtrack album, to be sure) – and Banner Saga follows suit.
He held nothing back when crafting the score for The Banner Saga – its beautiful and haunting – and we’re so pleased to be minting it on gorgeous 180-gram vinyl for the very first time!
Why we love the packaging:
Just look at that artwork. So stunning! It’s a combination of creepy and calming.
Vinyl records are really giving us every reason to buy them– they’re pretty, it makes listening to music immersive, it’s classy, and it’s something you can keep or give as an art piece.
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James Hill is a veteran of the music industry. He first worked at Warner Reprise Records then later joined Interscope/ Geffen Records where he managed producers and songwriters and got his first platinum record for Keyshia Cole’s The Way It Is. He is now helping indie artists with branding and manufacturing through his company Unified Manufacturing, a CD/DVD, custom vinyl records and merch company in LA.
