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History Of Video Game Music Explored

Posted by simoniker on from the beep-to-bleep dept.

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.")

2 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Star Control II by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  2. Quake and NIN was the best ever by Nice2Cats · · Score: 4, Interesting
    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.