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"Music In Games"

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?

Grandprix wrote:
> Some of the radio in GTA and GTA2 are hilarious. I crashed my car
> because I was laughing so much.

Excuses, excuses...

music aye. Thsi is very important in Games isn't it. The only thing is it is hard for cartridges to do great sound. The greatest music on cartridges has come from FACTOR 5. Take rogue squadron as an example or what about Perfect Dark brilliant Music in both cases. although I am really jealous of the sound I hear blaring out of my bros Dreamcast or my mates PS2. Cds just blow cartridges out of the water. What does this mean..........well this means that all of the Nintendoids can expect some mind blowing sound and music pounding out of their TVs when the GC appears on the scene. Oh yeah and faster loading times thanx to the Gekko processor. Copper wires...Take note sony. Use natural materials to your advantage. Instead of trying to invent something new which is unlikely to work very well.

Sony use copper wires.

Copper wires have been used since the dawn of electronics. It's the sensible thing to do.