GetDotted Domains

Viewing Thread:
"Music In Games"

The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.

Wed 30/05/01 at 09:08
Regular
Posts: 787
Yes Sniper, this probably has been done before, but this is easier than popping.

For me, music and sound is one of the most important aspects of a game. If you look at all the games that you can call truly great (Zelda, Sonic, Mario, Metal Gear Solid, Half Life) they all have brilliantly crafted sound and music.

It’s not just having good music – it’s having suitable music. Imagine having the likes of S-Club 7 telling you ‘there ain’t no party like an S-Club party’ when your battling Vulcan Raven, or having Eminem rapping about killing his mother, his daughter, his dog, and everything else that’s living when you are in Kariko village. Might be funny for a bit, but would be a bad choice of sound.

Much better is Zeldas subtle tunes, or Half Lifes eerie beats.

The music adds immensely to the atmosphere in any game. Try playing Tomb Raider or Resident Evil with the sound of. It has the same effect as when you mute the sound on films – its much less scary. The music helps you think that you are not just playing a game, you are actually there, which, if I’m not mistaken, is one of the main reasons people play games.

There is one brilliant bit in Half Life which made me realize that it truly was an astounding game. You come up a lift from the underground, after you’ve been wandering about for ages. As you go up, you see everything gradually get lighter, until the lift reaches the top. You walk out, turn left, and then some fast, high tempo music comes on, and there are a squad of marines and helicopters and tanks everywhere. The music gives you such a rush, you charge right in there with your machine gun and run around manicly, shooting up everything in sight. I think that is the single best use of music in games.

Activision got it right with Tony Hawks Pro Skater. They had a good game, but the music made it great. It also made the game ‘cooler’ to the casual gamer. You can tell this because of the astronomical sales it achieved.

Every game could benefit from proper licensed soundtracks. WWF No Mercy requires a lot of time on the menu screen when you create your own wrassler. The ‘music’ on that screen should be better than it is. They should have a proper song on there, as with the FIFA games. F-Zero-X should have the Prodigy in the background. Mario Tennis could have Radiohead… nah, maybe not.

Whadda y’all think? Can you make a truly great game without truly great aural effects? Is there any better bits than that bit on half life?
Wed 30/05/01 at 09:08
Regular
"I am Bumf Ucked"
Posts: 3,669
Yes Sniper, this probably has been done before, but this is easier than popping.

For me, music and sound is one of the most important aspects of a game. If you look at all the games that you can call truly great (Zelda, Sonic, Mario, Metal Gear Solid, Half Life) they all have brilliantly crafted sound and music.

It’s not just having good music – it’s having suitable music. Imagine having the likes of S-Club 7 telling you ‘there ain’t no party like an S-Club party’ when your battling Vulcan Raven, or having Eminem rapping about killing his mother, his daughter, his dog, and everything else that’s living when you are in Kariko village. Might be funny for a bit, but would be a bad choice of sound.

Much better is Zeldas subtle tunes, or Half Lifes eerie beats.

The music adds immensely to the atmosphere in any game. Try playing Tomb Raider or Resident Evil with the sound of. It has the same effect as when you mute the sound on films – its much less scary. The music helps you think that you are not just playing a game, you are actually there, which, if I’m not mistaken, is one of the main reasons people play games.

There is one brilliant bit in Half Life which made me realize that it truly was an astounding game. You come up a lift from the underground, after you’ve been wandering about for ages. As you go up, you see everything gradually get lighter, until the lift reaches the top. You walk out, turn left, and then some fast, high tempo music comes on, and there are a squad of marines and helicopters and tanks everywhere. The music gives you such a rush, you charge right in there with your machine gun and run around manicly, shooting up everything in sight. I think that is the single best use of music in games.

Activision got it right with Tony Hawks Pro Skater. They had a good game, but the music made it great. It also made the game ‘cooler’ to the casual gamer. You can tell this because of the astronomical sales it achieved.

Every game could benefit from proper licensed soundtracks. WWF No Mercy requires a lot of time on the menu screen when you create your own wrassler. The ‘music’ on that screen should be better than it is. They should have a proper song on there, as with the FIFA games. F-Zero-X should have the Prodigy in the background. Mario Tennis could have Radiohead… nah, maybe not.

Whadda y’all think? Can you make a truly great game without truly great aural effects? Is there any better bits than that bit on half life?
Wed 30/05/01 at 10:19
Regular
"not dead"
Posts: 11,145
A couple of summers ago, 1997 I think, I played Chronno Trigger whilst listing to Supergrass' In It For The Money.

Whenever I hear one of those songs now, I think Chrono Trigger.

I think it would actually be rather interesting if music was used in ways other than the expected.

Look at the film A Clockwork Orange. The violent acts to the sound of Beethoven is quite stunning, maybe something similar could be done in a game?
Wed 30/05/01 at 11:06
Regular
"Too Orangy For Crow"
Posts: 15,844
Music in games is one of the most necessary factors in games. I play Monkey Island a lot and I always listen to the beginning because it is catchy and easy to listen to.

But music in games can also get very irritating if they are cheesy and repetitive. But a game that needs a catchy tune is Championship Manager. It needs something you can hum for hours.
Wed 30/05/01 at 11:08
Regular
Posts: 14,117
I think music in games will start to go the way of M:SR, where it would be effective obviously.
Wed 30/05/01 at 11:13
Posts: 0
Ive been waiting for a console that allows you to download your personal MP3 tracks into memory and then allow you to play them back as background music in games.
Hopefully this will be possible with the X-box which will have a 8GB hard drive as standard or on the Playstation2 with the addition of its 40 GB harddrive add on.

Hopefully then I can play the latest WWF Smackdown with "Eye of the Tiger" playing in the background, or the latest Gran Turismo with music thats more to my taste.
Wed 30/05/01 at 11:14
Regular
Posts: 14,117
New Jimmy, you could just turned the in game music down and put the hi-fi on.

:-)
Wed 30/05/01 at 11:20
Posts: 0
I could but it wouldnt be as immersive! besides which I dont own the original CDs of most of the MP3s that I fileshare ;-)
Wed 30/05/01 at 11:21
Regular
Posts: 14,117
Ahhhhh, i see.

Do you have a CD burner?

Also, how would you get the MP3's from your PC to the console?
Wed 30/05/01 at 11:36
Regular
"Eff, you see, kay?"
Posts: 14,156
MiniDisc players/decks are a perfect way of listening to MP3s.

Best music in a game: GT1, by a long way. Totally banging roof down tunes. I GT3 to have Electric Avenue in it, though...

"We gonna rock down to Grand - Valley Speedway

VRRROOOOOMM!"
Wed 30/05/01 at 11:46
Posts: 0
I would imagine yould need a CD burner to put the tracks onto a CD, or for people with more modern machines (more modern than my P133) I would imagine you may be able to transfer files using a USB lead and some file transfer software.

Perhaps Bluetooth technology could be used with the X-box?

Freeola & GetDotted are rated 5 Stars

Check out some of our customer reviews below:

Brilliant service.
Love it, love it, love it!
Christopher
Everybody thinks I am an IT genius...
Nothing but admiration. I have been complimented on the church site that I manage through you and everybody thinks I am an IT genius. Your support is unquestionably outstanding.
Brian

View More Reviews

Need some help? Give us a call on 01376 55 60 60

Go to Support Centre
Feedback Close Feedback

It appears you are using an old browser, as such, some parts of the Freeola and Getdotted site will not work as intended. Using the latest version of your browser, or another browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera will provide a better, safer browsing experience for you.