Whether you are a fan of classic titles like Super Mario Bros. or you are more inclined to play more contemporary hits like Grand Theft Auto IV, you may feel inclined to show off your numb thumb in the form of free video game ringtones. As with most other forms of digital media, you will want to double-check about the legalities of downloading copyright content.
Two Kinds of Video Game Ringtones
When it comes to cell phone ringtones, they can largely be broken down into two main types. MIDI music files are also known as polyphonic ringtones. These are the kinds of video game ringtones where no actual instruments are used; instead, it is just a series of notes put together by a computer. Many classic video games make use of this kind of music. If you think back to the classic soundtrack of a game like Tetris, those songs were MIDI-based.
The other main type of ringtone are MP3 ringtones. These are more like "regular music" and would be the songs that you'd find in popular video games such Guitar Hero. Before you go shopping for free video game ringtones, check to see which type of ringtone your cell phone can handle. Not all phones can do MP3 ringtones, but most are able to accept polyphonic ringtones.
Be sure to check out how to add ringtones to find out more about downloading and uploading ringtones to your mobile phone.
VGMusic.com
In searching through the Internet, one of the best places to find free video game ringtones is VGMusic.com. By its own estimation, this website is home to over 25,000 unique video game music files, nearly all of which can be used in the form of video game ringtones.
VGMusic is not dedicated to providing cell phone ringtones. Instead, all of the files housed on this site are simply MIDI files. As mentioned earlier, these are like polyphonic ringtones and you would have to look into specific instructions on your particular mobile phone to learn how to upload these MIDI files onto your cell phone. You may also need to find a tutorial on how to set these MIDI music files as ringtones on your phone.
The design of VGMusic is not as advanced as some of the sites where you may find Bruce Springsteen ringtones or Christmas ringtones, but it is just as effective.
Located along the left sidebar are a series of links to the individual video game systems, as organized by the manufacturer. Under the Nintendo section, you'll find files for the NES, SNES, Virtual Boy, GameCube, Nintendo Wii, and more. Other systems featured on VGMusic.com include the Sega Genesis, Sony PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, SNK Neo-Geo, Philips CD-i, Commodore 64, and much more. The collection truly is awe-inspiring.
Go through these lists to find the video game ringtone that you would like to download. If you left-click, the file will open for you to preview. If you right click, you can choose to "Save Target As" and save the file to your computer. From there, it is up to you to upload the file to your cell phone.
For more places to find free ringtones, be sure to read our free cell phone ringtone resources guide.
Make Your Own Ringtones
For truly unique cell phone rings, you may want to make your own custom free video game ringtones.
To do this from an MP3 file, you will want to download MP3 file editing software. Audacity is a simple, free, cross-platform sound editor. Full documentation is available from Sourceforge.net on how to use Audacity.
In its simplest form, you will open the chosen MP3 music file in Audacity, highlight the section that you would like to save as the ringtone (about 20-30 seconds), and then choose to "save section as MP3". From there, you upload the outputted file to your phone.
