So, a few years ago I made a post about a Vib Ribbon press kit I found by chance on ebay around 2003. I posted the most interesting things (a lot of fun key art of the characters) but left a few things out (also, the single photo I took was terrible).
Three years later and there's still almost no information about this kit online! Most of the search results just point back to my blog. After digging through the CD more I found an interview with Masaya Matsuura, the designer of Parappa the Rapper and Vib Ribbon. A quick online search of some of the text shows that this interview doesn't appear to exist at all on the internet..so, I feel that in the interest of preserving the CULTURE it's my duty to put this information up for everyone to see.
Most of the more interesting images are on my previous post, but at the end of the article I'll link you to a dump of the entire disc!
The Game
There is an alternate demo version of the game that has a specific option for playing a stage with music by DJ Cam (a musician who did a promotional collaboration with the game) if you have a copy of the PAL PS1 "Registered Users Demo 08" disc, however. This is just the normal game though!
DJ Cam Loa Project Meets Vib Ribbon
This CD includes an eclectic mix of music from DJ Cam, running the gamut from jazz funk to reggae. Track 5 is a song specifically made to be played in Vib Ribbon, but to be honest it doesn't feel like Vib Ribbon to me at all and this music just isn't my kind of thing. The other four tracks are easy enough to find on Youtube.
However! Because Track 5 doesn't seem to exist online AT ALL (other than on one or two gameplay videos), here's a direct CD rip for you to enjoy.
Press Information August 2000
Here's where the interesting stuff is.
Photos and interview with director, Masaya Matsuura
In addition to several promotional photos, the press disc includes a couple of text files with a Vib Ribbon press release and a short Q&A with Masaya Matsuura. I'll post a link to the entire interview at the end of this article, but here's a snippet:
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Q. Where does vibri come from?
A. If we were to say that the world of digital data has dimension just like that of ours, vibri would be a character who accidentally popped out from the digital world and into ours.
All digital data, whether it be an image, sound, or program, is similar in that they take the form of data in 0s and 1s. We human beings can decode data by using programs to show them as sound or images, but vibri on the other hand, decodes and recognizes the data in different ways. Therefore, particular changes or transformation in the music would, for example, translate into obstacles for vibri while taking a walk. This would be the sort of underlying concept for vibri.
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The interview also talks about Matsuura's original vision for the game, the reason his company is named NanaOn-Sha, and insights into the creation of the soundtrack!
Key Artwork
This is the most fun part of the disc. As before, all of this art will be be provided in a link at the end of the article but here are a couple selections!
Work-In-Progress Cover Art
This image had its own folder in the disc as well. It says "WORK IN PROGRESS" but from my comparisons it seems to be identical to the final PAL cover art.
Full disc dump:
If you're still reading, you're interested enough in this piece of Vib Ribbon history that you probably want to see the rest right? It's been preserved on Archive.org below; there are a few more odds and ends on the disc that I didn't mention above. Enjoy!