History Of Video Game Music Explored

Thanks to GameSpot for its feature discussing the history of video game music as an artform, as they point out: "Once an afterthought in terms of game design and overall pop-culture consciousness, video game music is now a legitimate industry of its own." The feature goes on to chart game sound from 1972's Pong ("The sonar-blip sound that's generated as a digital ball is batted back and forth is the first true video game sound effect"), through the 1980s and Tetris ("...millions of glassy-eyed players endure endless loops of vaguely martial Russian Muzak playing in their heads"), right up to new titles such as Frequency ("notable in that it reduces visuals to a near-abstract level... and provides a gameplay experience that is primarily aural.")

Comments

Star Control II

[NanoGator]

Anybody who played SCII back in the DOS days instantly knows the contribution they brought to the table. The music was all done using '.mod', and it was pretty damn cool. Not bad given it came on what, 3 floppies?

I imagine Amiga users wouldn't be so enthralled by it, but .MOD was so much better than .MIDI.

Re:Star Control II

[NanoGator]

"The remixes in the new version are pretty nice too ,)"

Ah yes, the 3DO music. When SC2 was ported to the 3DO, they redid the music using CD audio. Did an awesome job, if you ask me. They also added CG rendered full-motion video to the intro and ending. It was a pleasant upgrade from the Dos version. I was fortunate enough to be one of the 3 people that had a 3DO so I could play that game!

You know, to this day, I still can't get over how tasteful the 3DO port of that game was. It's not all that often a game is updated and good sense is used about which pieces to update and which to leave as it was.

Re:Star Control II

[Jerf]

You should hear Star Wars: Tie Fighter or X-Wing on a real synthesizor. I had a Korg X-5, which you'd know if you heard it (its bigger brother with the identical sound module was quite popular for a while).

Believe me, even the latest versions of timidity aren't even in the ballpark. Not even close. And I'm talking a now 10-year old synth.

It wasn't until Grandia 2 on the DreamCast that I heard video game music that was comparable that (AFAIK) wasn't streamed off of a CD. Even FFX's music isn't as good as Tie Fighter on a real synthesizor.

Of course, with different synths, YMMV. Like I said, that was a popular synth in its day and given how good it sounded, I wouldn't be surprised that the music was originally composed on a X-5 equivalent (the 05/W IIRC, but I probably don't).

Quite a few other games were quite enjoyable; I actually missed the MIDI option when it went away because it meant inferior music.

So you know, invest $1000 into a MIDI rig and MIDI can sound unbelievably awesome. You shouldn't be surprised that even a hundred dollar sound card can't come close to that.

I wouldn't be surprised that even a modern computer going full-blast with fully-opimized software wouldn't be able to keep up with my 10-year-old synth, feature for feature and cycle for cycle. Synths get some serious benefit from custom hardware.

Re:Obligatory Link

[Rallion]

Ah, but it doesn't compare to the Black Mages, redefining the music of Final Fantasy with the help of the FF musicman.

Quake and NIN was the best ever

[Nice2Cats]

If ever there were a marriage made in hell (and we mean that in a good way), it has to be Quake plus Nine Inch Nails.

That game with that music was so spooky, it made me want wet my pants. Nothing, not even Half Life has come close to that feeling of running around in a place where I shouldn't be with the ammo counter way down and monsters just around the next corner, for sure, and that music that you just couldn't get out of your head...

I could have been born in a different age, but then growing up with id Software has been a real kick.

Audio Games

[Nomihn0]

I'd have to say that the best videogame "music" is in the games for the blind. Music has served only an aesthetic purpose in game development up until fairly recently when it began to be used as the primary output device in games for the disabled.
One recent example is Terraformers, a game playable by both the sighted and the blind.
An archive of audio games can be found at thissite

Re:Music crucial to a game

[Anonymous Coward]

Ultima IV and Ultima V in particular had awesome music. I think the music stands the test of time better than the games themselves. You can get midi files for the Ultimas here. Check out the Ultima IV remake project too.

Re:Ignored earlier on?

[Kethinov]

All the Final Fantasies, and many other RPGs, have excellent music. I classify it as "RPG music" which in my view far surpasses regular video game music classification. Comparing FF6 to Tetris is like comparing Mozart to trendy-MTV-of-the-day imho.

Chrono Cross

[Q-Mont]

I remember seeing a preview for Chrono Cross before it came out. It was playing the song "Scars of Time" with various cutscenes from the game. I thought that it was one of the better songs that I've heard for a video game. I went on to buy the game and subsequently the soundtrack. While the game sits on my shelf now, I still find myself listening to the soundtrack on a regular basis. It's definitely my favorite game soundtrack overall.

The Black Mages

[May Kasahara]

Ahh... I love that album, especially the arranges of "Dancing Mad" and "J.E.N.O.V.A.". Can't wait for the next one!

Final Fantasy Concert

[Q-Mont]

I Don't know how many have heard it (probably lots) but there was a concert put on by the Tokyo Philharmonic on 2/20/2002. They performed a wonderful mix of songs from the early Final Fantasy games all the way to songs from FFX. It is a fantastic concert. To hear your favorite songs from some great video games performed by a full orchestra is incredible.