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Virtually all of the games we play today feature in-game music of some form or another. In the early days our ears were subjected to oligotonic murmurings from a small speaker, these days things have changed somewhat. Nowadays we can listen to CD quality audio theoretically in surround sound. In general terms, the quality of our in-game music has improved.
The Sony Playstation was the major console to fully grasp the potential of the CD based system, and the musical possibilities. With the PS2 and XBox, we can now fill the remainder of the large DVD with CD-quality music for the in-game experince. An example is Amped on the XBox, which features 150 different CD tracks from a variety of known artists.
It is a truism that the game styles the music, as can be seen in the distinctions in the gaming market. RPG's simply do not suit a charty in-game sound score, thus they opt for the ambient aesthetic sounds of the MIDI sequencer. On the other hand, games like extreme sports sims and driving games relish the recent trends in music. And this will be the basis of this argument - trends in music, will they affect our games in the future?
I will now elaborate. If I was to pick up an old NES and play, for example, Mario 3 on it, the music would be truly aesthetic. It would bring back memories and not in any way reduce the game in any respect. This is a fundamental point with MIDI music, it is never in, or out, of fasion. However, the type of music we hear in many games today, changes with the recent fashions. And the question has to be raised, how will we respond to these games in say ten years time?
I accept Thrash Metal is widely in fashion at the present time. Tony Hawk's 3 features songs by Korn and XZibit. NHL Hitz 20-02 features Limp Bizkit and Staind. But how long will this be fashionable? And when it flops, will it bring a myriad of good games with it? Imagine waking up one morning and really feeling like a bit of retro gaming. You put Sonic into your Sega Master System, only to endure the sounds of Spandau Ballet and The Buggles. Fair enough, some people may disagree and relish the idea, but the majority would be slightly put off by the concept. Would Sonic really be the same again? Would you be forced to play the game without any sound? Could this make the distinction between a good game and a potentially great game of the future, like the older Mario titles?
The answer to this question will come in due time, but it will suffice to say that music changes all the time. The XBox has built in functionality to change the in game music, which could possibly be a preventative measure. Amped makes use of this function, perhaps to never let the game follow the trends. But for the majority of games, the music is with you as long as the game is. And when the music is out of fashion, will the game slowly fade with the soundtrack?
The Sony Playstation was the major console to fully grasp the potential of the CD based system, and the musical possibilities. With the PS2 and XBox, we can now fill the remainder of the large DVD with CD-quality music for the in-game experince. An example is Amped on the XBox, which features 150 different CD tracks from a variety of known artists.
It is a truism that the game styles the music, as can be seen in the distinctions in the gaming market. RPG's simply do not suit a charty in-game sound score, thus they opt for the ambient aesthetic sounds of the MIDI sequencer. On the other hand, games like extreme sports sims and driving games relish the recent trends in music. And this will be the basis of this argument - trends in music, will they affect our games in the future?
I will now elaborate. If I was to pick up an old NES and play, for example, Mario 3 on it, the music would be truly aesthetic. It would bring back memories and not in any way reduce the game in any respect. This is a fundamental point with MIDI music, it is never in, or out, of fasion. However, the type of music we hear in many games today, changes with the recent fashions. And the question has to be raised, how will we respond to these games in say ten years time?
I accept Thrash Metal is widely in fashion at the present time. Tony Hawk's 3 features songs by Korn and XZibit. NHL Hitz 20-02 features Limp Bizkit and Staind. But how long will this be fashionable? And when it flops, will it bring a myriad of good games with it? Imagine waking up one morning and really feeling like a bit of retro gaming. You put Sonic into your Sega Master System, only to endure the sounds of Spandau Ballet and The Buggles. Fair enough, some people may disagree and relish the idea, but the majority would be slightly put off by the concept. Would Sonic really be the same again? Would you be forced to play the game without any sound? Could this make the distinction between a good game and a potentially great game of the future, like the older Mario titles?
The answer to this question will come in due time, but it will suffice to say that music changes all the time. The XBox has built in functionality to change the in game music, which could possibly be a preventative measure. Amped makes use of this function, perhaps to never let the game follow the trends. But for the majority of games, the music is with you as long as the game is. And when the music is out of fashion, will the game slowly fade with the soundtrack?
Well done on the GAD, especially if it was actually written at 5 in the morning
Franny wrote:
> The XBox has built in functionality to change the in game
> music, which could possibly be a preventative measure.
Am I the only one to wonder how MS wangled this one?
They are obviously dead against piracy of their software. It is also supposedly illegal to copy music from audio CD in any fashion, and by incorporating this feature in the Xbox, they are ignoring the wishes of the entire music industry with regard to their own copyright, at a time when record companies are trying hard to prevent just this kind of thing.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good idea to add your own music to games, but I think it's a bit 'off' that Microsoft preach the anti-piracy doctrine one the one hand, while actively encouraging the copying of other people's material.
Also, if the new anti-piracy measures take off (see http://special.reserve.co.uk/news/story.php?id=1639) then how would this affect recording on the Xbox? Yes, I know there are already millions of unprotected CDs, but would this prevent future albums from being recorded on Xbox?
> The XBox has built in functionality to change the in game
> music, which could possibly be a preventative measure.
Am I the only one to wonder how MS wangled this one?
They are obviously dead against piracy of their software. It is also supposedly illegal to copy music from audio CD in any fashion, and by incorporating this feature in the Xbox, they are ignoring the wishes of the entire music industry with regard to their own copyright, at a time when record companies are trying hard to prevent just this kind of thing.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good idea to add your own music to games, but I think it's a bit 'off' that Microsoft preach the anti-piracy doctrine one the one hand, while actively encouraging the copying of other people's material.
Also, if the new anti-piracy measures take off (see http://special.reserve.co.uk/news/story.php?id=1639) then how would this affect recording on the Xbox? Yes, I know there are already millions of unprotected CDs, but would this prevent future albums from being recorded on Xbox?
Music reflects the mood exibited by the game, Tony Hawks Pro Skater is a skating game, Skaters are the stereoypical people who listen to new metal and Punk (*cough* me) and to reflect this mood the designers put the music in the game. And RPG's aka Zelda are suited more to orchestral pieces, light hearted games such as Mario and Sonic will use familiar tunes thos "tip top" tunes as so many people call them... whatever that means.
I'd rather listen to the music in the game rather than my own whilst playing, if i don't like the music i will turn it off and stick on my CD player, but I'm fundamentally a Nintendo fan and as virtually all Nintendo games have perfect musical scores (even for a cart based system) o never need to do that...
I'd rather listen to the music in the game rather than my own whilst playing, if i don't like the music i will turn it off and stick on my CD player, but I'm fundamentally a Nintendo fan and as virtually all Nintendo games have perfect musical scores (even for a cart based system) o never need to do that...
Franny wrote:
> Ehem, Jet Set Radio Future on the XBox. And yourself??!!
I decided to watch Dune to the bitter end (3:25am) and that meant that I had to raise my caffine intake. Unfortunately I overdosed on the caffine a little, and so I thought I'd come and post on here until I feel tired. Which probably won't be until about 7:00am, by which point going to sleep will be a lost cause, so I'll just ride it through, and go to bed at a sensible hour today. It's scary when tomorrow becomes today and you don't even realise it...
> Ehem, Jet Set Radio Future on the XBox. And yourself??!!
I decided to watch Dune to the bitter end (3:25am) and that meant that I had to raise my caffine intake. Unfortunately I overdosed on the caffine a little, and so I thought I'd come and post on here until I feel tired. Which probably won't be until about 7:00am, by which point going to sleep will be a lost cause, so I'll just ride it through, and go to bed at a sensible hour today. It's scary when tomorrow becomes today and you don't even realise it...
On a serious point though, responding to your post, I believe that as game budgets grow and grow, and they become more and more epic undertakings, they should get their own score like films do.
The computer games industry already surpasses the film industry in terms of profitability, and so it shouldn't be to long before people sit down to give a game a ful orchestral score. And I don't mean the tinned sounds of Zelda. We're talking film-proportion scores, tailored to each scene.
It's not too far off, and lots of EMI artists are being sacked, so there's a definite hole in the labour market waiting to be exploited.
The computer games industry already surpasses the film industry in terms of profitability, and so it shouldn't be to long before people sit down to give a game a ful orchestral score. And I don't mean the tinned sounds of Zelda. We're talking film-proportion scores, tailored to each scene.
It's not too far off, and lots of EMI artists are being sacked, so there's a definite hole in the labour market waiting to be exploited.
What on earth are you doing up at this ungodly hour?
Virtually all of the games we play today feature in-game music of some form or another. In the early days our ears were subjected to oligotonic murmurings from a small speaker, these days things have changed somewhat. Nowadays we can listen to CD quality audio theoretically in surround sound. In general terms, the quality of our in-game music has improved.
The Sony Playstation was the major console to fully grasp the potential of the CD based system, and the musical possibilities. With the PS2 and XBox, we can now fill the remainder of the large DVD with CD-quality music for the in-game experince. An example is Amped on the XBox, which features 150 different CD tracks from a variety of known artists.
It is a truism that the game styles the music, as can be seen in the distinctions in the gaming market. RPG's simply do not suit a charty in-game sound score, thus they opt for the ambient aesthetic sounds of the MIDI sequencer. On the other hand, games like extreme sports sims and driving games relish the recent trends in music. And this will be the basis of this argument - trends in music, will they affect our games in the future?
I will now elaborate. If I was to pick up an old NES and play, for example, Mario 3 on it, the music would be truly aesthetic. It would bring back memories and not in any way reduce the game in any respect. This is a fundamental point with MIDI music, it is never in, or out, of fasion. However, the type of music we hear in many games today, changes with the recent fashions. And the question has to be raised, how will we respond to these games in say ten years time?
I accept Thrash Metal is widely in fashion at the present time. Tony Hawk's 3 features songs by Korn and XZibit. NHL Hitz 20-02 features Limp Bizkit and Staind. But how long will this be fashionable? And when it flops, will it bring a myriad of good games with it? Imagine waking up one morning and really feeling like a bit of retro gaming. You put Sonic into your Sega Master System, only to endure the sounds of Spandau Ballet and The Buggles. Fair enough, some people may disagree and relish the idea, but the majority would be slightly put off by the concept. Would Sonic really be the same again? Would you be forced to play the game without any sound? Could this make the distinction between a good game and a potentially great game of the future, like the older Mario titles?
The answer to this question will come in due time, but it will suffice to say that music changes all the time. The XBox has built in functionality to change the in game music, which could possibly be a preventative measure. Amped makes use of this function, perhaps to never let the game follow the trends. But for the majority of games, the music is with you as long as the game is. And when the music is out of fashion, will the game slowly fade with the soundtrack?
The Sony Playstation was the major console to fully grasp the potential of the CD based system, and the musical possibilities. With the PS2 and XBox, we can now fill the remainder of the large DVD with CD-quality music for the in-game experince. An example is Amped on the XBox, which features 150 different CD tracks from a variety of known artists.
It is a truism that the game styles the music, as can be seen in the distinctions in the gaming market. RPG's simply do not suit a charty in-game sound score, thus they opt for the ambient aesthetic sounds of the MIDI sequencer. On the other hand, games like extreme sports sims and driving games relish the recent trends in music. And this will be the basis of this argument - trends in music, will they affect our games in the future?
I will now elaborate. If I was to pick up an old NES and play, for example, Mario 3 on it, the music would be truly aesthetic. It would bring back memories and not in any way reduce the game in any respect. This is a fundamental point with MIDI music, it is never in, or out, of fasion. However, the type of music we hear in many games today, changes with the recent fashions. And the question has to be raised, how will we respond to these games in say ten years time?
I accept Thrash Metal is widely in fashion at the present time. Tony Hawk's 3 features songs by Korn and XZibit. NHL Hitz 20-02 features Limp Bizkit and Staind. But how long will this be fashionable? And when it flops, will it bring a myriad of good games with it? Imagine waking up one morning and really feeling like a bit of retro gaming. You put Sonic into your Sega Master System, only to endure the sounds of Spandau Ballet and The Buggles. Fair enough, some people may disagree and relish the idea, but the majority would be slightly put off by the concept. Would Sonic really be the same again? Would you be forced to play the game without any sound? Could this make the distinction between a good game and a potentially great game of the future, like the older Mario titles?
The answer to this question will come in due time, but it will suffice to say that music changes all the time. The XBox has built in functionality to change the in game music, which could possibly be a preventative measure. Amped makes use of this function, perhaps to never let the game follow the trends. But for the majority of games, the music is with you as long as the game is. And when the music is out of fashion, will the game slowly fade with the soundtrack?