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Is Music More Lasting Than Graphics In Games?
Thanks to Tokyopia for their article arguing that music may be more important than graphics for the most enduring videogames. The author, apparently a "a renowned game music composer who would rather remain nameless", argues: "In going back to look at a few rare [older] videogames that still [have lasting value] today, it struck me that the graphics have almost always dated horribly, but the music - almost without fail - still succeeds. At worst, old music elicits a smile. At best, a full on emotional connection that really enhances the game." He then references Sega's NiGHTS Into Dreams and Namco's Ridge Racer Type 4 as titles which benefit from this connection, concluding: "Over time, a game's graphics will inevitably be relegated to being the mere nuts and bolts of the experience. The basic structure around which the all important game play is wrapped. But the music? The music is our emotional connection. It's the experience. And it plays forever."
has written some of the best video game music in history. I mean, I can just sit and listen to the Final Fantasy 4 soundtrack over and over, even though I have only played the game for a few minutes.
I love NetHack.
On the other hand, I can't figure out what the heck the author means by this categorization--
The first (Tetris, Pac-Man, Space Invaders) is the game that plays you. Your interactivity is merely a response to dilemmas inherent in the game. Move or be eaten. Shoot or be invaded. Reach the end before time is up.
The second type (GTA3, The Sims, Halo) is the game that you play. There are ground rules, but there are also choices. This is the next evolution of gaming: replicating an experience.
After reading this, I'm at a loss to figuring out what he means by this--the first set of games has low quality graphics, the second his hi quality, but I doubt that's it. There are no choices in Tetris?
Yes, but he's right. Graphics almost have to be technically impressive to be good, whereas music often is better when it's a bit primitive. An old synth can still be used as an instrument, and the SID chip in the C64 was often used far more effectively than the orchestras they can use in modern game scores.
This has nothing to do with nostalgia, it has to do with the different media: Graphics are usually supposed to mimic the world (mimesis), music rarely does that. Any sound can be used to make music. If it sounds good, it's perfect.
The music from older games holds up so well because it tended to be simple, catchy stuff. Most modern games go for more ambient music, so you don't really remember it afterwards. You can't forget the music from Mario 1 or Zelda 1, but I can't remember any music from Mario Sunshine or The Wind Waker (other than the remixes of the old music).
I can remember lots of music from 2D games, but music from 3D games tends to not leave a lasting impression. I can remember some music from the two N64 Zeldas, but really only the repeating stuff you were supposed to remember (i.e. Saria's song).
I'm very thankful though that I managed to forget the music to Final Fantasy 7. I'm not an RPG fan, but my college roommate was. I remember trying to do homework with some friends while he was playing FF7. The music in that game is so repetitive that it really gets on your nerves in under 5 minutes. Particuarlly the Chocobo racing music...
It isn't just music, but sound itself.
Hell yes. Who has played System Shock 2? Do you remember the voices of terror in the people? What about those that are transforming into the many? What about SHODAN?
Look at Metroid:Prime. They did the intelligent thing of making new music, but the base of them all were old metroid (the original) songs. Sometimes you have to really listen to hear them, but they are all there. That makes an old gamer like myself really comfy with the switch from the old side-scroller to the FPS.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
I do too. I sing the super mario bros. song in my head or whistle it... that's normal... right?
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Thou hast besquirted me, O leotarded one.
An earlier Slashdot article pointed to the rising use of licensed music for U.S. video games.
If game music is suppsoed to provide the game's atmosphere and instill a bit of nostalgia long after the game is done, how can you convey those feelings nearly as well with licensed music, which were composed for different reasons?
Years from now, you will hear a song from the 80s. Which are you likely to remember from it? That is was a song from the 80s? Or that it was a song used in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City?
The same is true in movies, but the point can be proven there much more easily. Watch Psycho (the original) or The Godfather and pay attention to what the music is doing for the scene.
A good developer, just like a good director, is going to use the music to set the scene, to introduce a character (and even to change a character), and to adjust the viewer/player's emotions.
Doom and Quake used music and sound to put people on edge, which is something that is missing from almost every FPS since the first Quake. Halo used music to give the player a sense of awe, especially when combined with the imagery (given, of course, that you played it when it first came out on the XBox rather than at it's PC release, after people became jaded by hype and not having it because of it's XBox-only status, and the entire genre had already taken from Halo and moved forward).
Many of the console franchises (especially Final Fantasy) rely heavily on re-use of previous musical themes, in part because it brings nostalgia on the part of long-time players, and because they already have an idea of which themes were successful from the earlier releases.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
"Graphics almost have to be technically impressive to be good, whereas music often is better when it's a bit primitive."
I agree with you and the author that music is a key to having a game still connect after all of these years -- I certainly felt that way when playing Exult (an Ultima VII remake) last year.
But the statement that graphics MUST be technically impressive is nonsense. The graphics in Diablo are primitive, but they still look beautiful today. The focus on nice-looking 2D instead of bad-looking 3D really paid off there. It's a good example of good art trumping old technology. LucasArts' Grim Fandango is another good example. Or the Myst series.
But thats not my point. Retro games such as the glorious Pacman had lovely sound. This music has now taken a life of its own. Read this Wired Article to see what I mean.
Mod Wisely.
I relate to your assessment of the first generation 3d systems. I stopped buying and playing new video games when 3d usurped the kind of high quality 2d that was prevalent in games of the mid-90s as the preferred means of making games. SNES was king for me, still kind of is. I kept looking for something interesting to make a new console worth buying, since the SNES game market died and became retro in 95/96.
Nights, Final Fantasy 7, Mario 64, and Mario Kart 64 were unable to bring me back, although traditional games like Suikoden tempted me. Each of those examples failed to prove to me that 3d gaming was better, especially FF7, with its pre-rendered but ugly backgrounds, its resulting pseudo-3d movement, the random and gratuitous camera changes that take place during battle, and its overuse of pre-rendered cinemas that looked nothing like in-game play. But I got back into gaming in 1999 after seeing and playing Ocarina of Time. In particular, it was intricately detailed/directed enemies like Gohma and its spawn, the huge overworld of Hyrule, the impressive usage of well directed in-game engine cinemas, and the great camera scheme that redeemed my faith in game developers and the direction that gaming was headed.
Thanks Shiggy! Kyoto is my mecca to this day because of him and the games he and his colleagues produce. I even went back and bought Mario 64, just to see what had led Nintendo down the path to Ocarina of Time, and I ended up enjoying it as well.
Blizzard offers just about all of the music for Diablo II and the expansion pack as 128-kbps MP3's for free download on their site. You don't appreciate the complexity and depth of the music until you hear it while you're not playing the game. The liner notes are amusing to boot!
:-).
I've dumped them all to a CF card on my Zaurus and am listening to them now
"Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?"