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."

Comments

Seems true.

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

Nostalgically, this seems true. The pixelated graphics just remind us how silly and trivially we expended our youth. But the music...the music makes us want to waste our youth yet again. On the other hand, I can't think of any memorable video game sound tracks I've heard since the Playstation 2 went on sale.

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?

Re:The article is biased

[MrHanky]

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.

Re:How many care?

[PainKilleR-CE]

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.