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When games came out on the 8-bit computers and consoles, the sound was a basic 'plinkety-plonk' noise that went together to make a basic tune. This played on the title page and later on in games creation it also played throughout the game too.
By the time of the 16-bit consoles, the sound chips had made it possible for some sampled instruments to be incorporated into the tunes, meaning that the background tunes sounded less like a five-year-old playing a xylophone and more like 80's synthpop. This enhanced the atmosphere of a game, from the fast beats of action games and the electronic sax and snare drums of beat-em-ups to the dark foreboding music, background screams and ominous effects of dungeon based games.
Nowadays consoles use CDs or digital effects that can easily replicate or play real world music, allowing games designers to use such acts as Offspring and Rob Zombie to enhance the game’s mood or make it more realistic. But some games don’t need this, notably some N64 games, that don’t come on a CD incidentally, have lighter music that harks back to the old days of gaming and handhelds like the Gameboy have limited sound chips that mean the sounds of the past are still part of gaming today. So what for the future? Consoles will increasingly use bands and even the handhelds will be able to replicate this, the Gameboy Advance has shown the shape of things to come from the into to Castlevania (although this is only a small sample so far), but do we need it?
Does music really affect the atmosphere of a game? Would the experience be the same with a different type of music altogether, or with something less advanced? It’s funny that as mainstream music seems to be picking up and using old games music from the 80’s in their dance tunes, the games themselves are trying to be more ‘civilized’ and realistic as they capture the real world environments in their locations.
By the time of the 16-bit consoles, the sound chips had made it possible for some sampled instruments to be incorporated into the tunes, meaning that the background tunes sounded less like a five-year-old playing a xylophone and more like 80's synthpop. This enhanced the atmosphere of a game, from the fast beats of action games and the electronic sax and snare drums of beat-em-ups to the dark foreboding music, background screams and ominous effects of dungeon based games.
Nowadays consoles use CDs or digital effects that can easily replicate or play real world music, allowing games designers to use such acts as Offspring and Rob Zombie to enhance the game’s mood or make it more realistic. But some games don’t need this, notably some N64 games, that don’t come on a CD incidentally, have lighter music that harks back to the old days of gaming and handhelds like the Gameboy have limited sound chips that mean the sounds of the past are still part of gaming today. So what for the future? Consoles will increasingly use bands and even the handhelds will be able to replicate this, the Gameboy Advance has shown the shape of things to come from the into to Castlevania (although this is only a small sample so far), but do we need it?
Does music really affect the atmosphere of a game? Would the experience be the same with a different type of music altogether, or with something less advanced? It’s funny that as mainstream music seems to be picking up and using old games music from the 80’s in their dance tunes, the games themselves are trying to be more ‘civilized’ and realistic as they capture the real world environments in their locations.
Page:
When games came out on the 8-bit computers and consoles, the sound was a basic 'plinkety-plonk' noise that went together to make a basic tune. This played on the title page and later on in games creation it also played throughout the game too.
By the time of the 16-bit consoles, the sound chips had made it possible for some sampled instruments to be incorporated into the tunes, meaning that the background tunes sounded less like a five-year-old playing a xylophone and more like 80's synthpop. This enhanced the atmosphere of a game, from the fast beats of action games and the electronic sax and snare drums of beat-em-ups to the dark foreboding music, background screams and ominous effects of dungeon based games.
Nowadays consoles use CDs or digital effects that can easily replicate or play real world music, allowing games designers to use such acts as Offspring and Rob Zombie to enhance the game’s mood or make it more realistic. But some games don’t need this, notably some N64 games, that don’t come on a CD incidentally, have lighter music that harks back to the old days of gaming and handhelds like the Gameboy have limited sound chips that mean the sounds of the past are still part of gaming today. So what for the future? Consoles will increasingly use bands and even the handhelds will be able to replicate this, the Gameboy Advance has shown the shape of things to come from the into to Castlevania (although this is only a small sample so far), but do we need it?
Does music really affect the atmosphere of a game? Would the experience be the same with a different type of music altogether, or with something less advanced? It’s funny that as mainstream music seems to be picking up and using old games music from the 80’s in their dance tunes, the games themselves are trying to be more ‘civilized’ and realistic as they capture the real world environments in their locations.
By the time of the 16-bit consoles, the sound chips had made it possible for some sampled instruments to be incorporated into the tunes, meaning that the background tunes sounded less like a five-year-old playing a xylophone and more like 80's synthpop. This enhanced the atmosphere of a game, from the fast beats of action games and the electronic sax and snare drums of beat-em-ups to the dark foreboding music, background screams and ominous effects of dungeon based games.
Nowadays consoles use CDs or digital effects that can easily replicate or play real world music, allowing games designers to use such acts as Offspring and Rob Zombie to enhance the game’s mood or make it more realistic. But some games don’t need this, notably some N64 games, that don’t come on a CD incidentally, have lighter music that harks back to the old days of gaming and handhelds like the Gameboy have limited sound chips that mean the sounds of the past are still part of gaming today. So what for the future? Consoles will increasingly use bands and even the handhelds will be able to replicate this, the Gameboy Advance has shown the shape of things to come from the into to Castlevania (although this is only a small sample so far), but do we need it?
Does music really affect the atmosphere of a game? Would the experience be the same with a different type of music altogether, or with something less advanced? It’s funny that as mainstream music seems to be picking up and using old games music from the 80’s in their dance tunes, the games themselves are trying to be more ‘civilized’ and realistic as they capture the real world environments in their locations.
Page: