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

Oldfield's "Maestro" music game

[AtariAmarok]

Don't forget video games that are initially inspired by music, such as Mike Oldfield's new "Maestro" exploration game.

Ignored earlier on?

[metroid composite]

Some of my favourite pieces of music are from NES games. Don't get me wrong, more tracks and more musical instruments offers higher potential, but the NES music that was good really hammered down a tune which I often couldn't get out of my head. And I will say outright (as I am playing both presently) that Final Fantasy 6 (III) has much better music than Metroid Prime (despite the fact that I do like Prime's music 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.

Re:Ignored earlier on?

[Pxtl]

That's only because for a while, they were unique in attempting epic, classical soundtracks. Those days are long gone. Besides, the Megaman games have always easily had as good music as the Final Fantasy games. Ditto StarFox. Its just you notice it more in Final Fantasy because the game has so much quiet wandering time.

Then CD audio came and since then any game can have awesome music. IMHO, my award for best orchestral soundtrack goes not to the myriad ff games but to Total Annihilation.

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

[Deraj DeZine]

The MOD format is essentially the same idea as MIDI except that the samples are customizable and distributed along with the song. Other than that and a few miscellaneous features, there is no reason why MIDIs should not sound as good as MODs.

Of course, that's just theoretical. In real life, MIDI samples are hideous synthesizer-derived aural abominations. I blame Creative Labs.

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.

Music crucial to a game

[evil-osm]

I always found Ultima music to be top notch, mind you it required a decent midi enabled soundcard (Roland MT32), which was one of the best midi cards out there. Music has a huge potential to make or break the game, if the music is too repetative the player turns it off (if possible), same if it is too annoying. Turning off the sound is also not an option (you would them miss out on all the snd efx). A game without music that suits the setting can really ruin the experience as well.

Looking through the article, it reminds me how some of the games did such an amazing job on the music with the technology that it had at the time.

Good job folks

Obligatory Link

[Gothic_Walrus]

No discussion of video game music is complete without a link to OC Remix, a site that hosts thousands of remixes of video game songs.

See? Video game music is an art form!

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

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.

Regrettable omission: Commodore 64

[jvmatthe]

I skimmed the article yesterday, so maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anything about the venerable Commodore 64. Any 30-something who was a Commodore user knows that that personal computer was often less of a productivity machine and more of a game playing machine. Along with those games came some GREAT music, including my favorite of all time, Capcom's Commando with music by Rob Hubbard. There were many more, including Skate or Die, California Games, and Ghosts 'n' Goblins.

With its advanced SID chip for making sounds and music, the Commodore 64 was an incredible machine for video game music. It's nearly criminal that it was left out.

Re: A game that IS music.

[Nefarious_Hat]

I'm dismayed by the omission of Rez from this list. It's understandable, considering the lack of publicity the game has gotten. If you want to learn more about it, here's Gamespy's review

• http://archive.gamespy.com/reviews/january02/rez ps2/

P.S. Please forgive not hyperlinking it, as I'm new to the whole HTML deal.

No discussion in game music should ignore Soule

[DarkFencer]

No discussion about game music should ignore the incredible composer Jeremy Soule. He doesn't get nearly as much attention as Nobuo Uematsu (sp?) of Final Fantasy fame, but is just as good IMHO.


Some of his credits include:
Icewind Dale (my favorite of his)
Morrowind (my second favorite of his)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Neverwinter Nights
Unreal II
Dungeon Siege
and many more.

If you haven't heard his work, check his website: www.jeremysoule.com