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Industry Audio Magazine Focuses On Videogames
Thanks to the Gaming-Age messageboard regulars for pointing to an extensive feature in Mix Magazine ('Professional Audio and Music Production'), including an editorial discussing the rising importance of professional audio creators in videogames. The magazine's editor suggests: "Galaxies removed from the blips and boings of Atari's 1972 Pong or the primitive 'soundtracks' of early 1980s classics such as Donkey Kong or Mario Bros., the cheesy 8-bit music and effects have been replaced by high-quality streaming audio (16-bit/44.1kHz) with real-time, hyper-realistic Foley thunks, screams, shots and explosions that are triggered from RAM, with near-zero latency." The rest of the game audio feature also includes an in-depth look into audio at Electronic Arts, as well as articles on Ensemble Studio's audio, examples of musicians moving into game music creation, some tips for game sound designers, and the market for licensed songs in videogames.
I do have to agree the Audio Quality of todays games is much better then of years past but I do have to say I some times miss some of the simpler repeating tunes. I even find my slef humming them every now and then.
..to have been long gone.
I'm talking about soundtracks from titles like Star Control 2, Ultima 6, Lotus 3 & etc.
man do they rock!
nowadays the soundtracks are so bland most of the time you don't remember anything about them, they may be done by musician professionals but they still are very _dull_ most of the time(you know, by technical musical aspects they're great but missing the sould and originality). they're like the soundtracks in a movie that doesn't use the soundtrack properly(note, silence can be using it properly)..
thumbs up for vice city though(old songs, but the songs have some edge at least).
(some prefer c64 era thoug)
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Which brings me to my third and final paragraph. I'm sure most of you are familiar with Doom3 and have probably seen the screenshots, if not played the leaked alpha. I read in a few articles / interviews published in gaming magazines several months back that id was claiming that they were focusing more on sounds than graphics, and that if you thought the screenshots looked good, wait until you heard them. Though they suggested a 6.1 setup.
This goes to another point, though, and that's the fact that bringing in professionals doesn't always result in sub-par music. Most of the articles and interviews have stated that Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) is coming back in to do the music, and possibly sound effects, for Doom 3, as he did with Quake. The latter title was definitely among the first to gain the full benefit of this type of relationship, especially with full CD-quality audio (being an actual audio CD from which the audio tracks were played), and the music was perfect for the game.
I think a lot of people shudder at the thought of musicians doing game music simply because so many games simply use licensed songs today, or because many musicians approach it like just another album instead of approaching it like the score of the game (similar to the score of a movie). The movie industry rarely uses people from the music industry to do film scores, but when they do, they either do the job well or fall flat, and that often determines whether they work on another film again. In the case of Doom 3, if the statements about Trent Reznor working on the music are true, you're looking at an artist that has done a handful of movies and a previous game from the same developers, rather than just another musician looking to open up the audience for his new album. Of course, these types of projects are part of why there is an average of four years between Nine Inch Nails albums, too, so it's a mixed blessing for those of us that enjoy his work.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
The second item on your list I believe has been done several times by games - I believe Baldur's Gate and other games based on that engine used this to great effect, and Halo has often been lauded for its' context-sensitive and (indeed) fantastic score.
Also, Wind Waker has rather good music and sound effects - it's very slightly like Rez in that while you're hacking, slashing and otherwise using your sword in battle, the game has musical instrument cues that serve as a sort of (for lack of a better word) "audio exclamation point".
Absolutely nothing compares to the awesomeness of Rez though. It has to be one of my all-time favorite games, and I'm even playing it on the DC where there's no fancy.. erm... trance vibrators.
Seriously though, Rez is the game that has convinced me that games *can* be an art form. Most games are not, but Rez is just so beautiful of a game (overall, not just graphically) that I really do think that it qualifies as art.
My English teacher once told me that two positives don't make a negative. Two words for her: Yeah, right.