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Game music has progressed over the years. And in the process of moving from simple 'bleeps' and 'bloops' it has moved to huge, expansive, what I like to call, Soundscapes, which engulf you in their splendour and bring your senses to a point you only feel when you hear that sound. Some of the game music has been so spectacular that it has been reproduced in Midi form or even more prestigiously in the form of a CD and sold either in Japan or worldwide. The music of a game, in modern times, has now become an essential part of any games. Many genres only seen on Playstation upwards depend on music to give the atmosphere that the game manages to create. And in some cases, games are now completely devoted to music, and otherwise wouldn’t exist without it.
Resident Evil, first seen on Playstation in the survival-horror genre, has an atmosphere which is created almost entirely by the music in the game. Each scenario has what can only be called “sinister wind” and the noisy silence is only broken by the moans of the undead. The music in this game is so dark and suspicious that even just listening to it with the lights off is enough to scare the weak at the knees. But when the music of this game is mixed with the creaky door sequences, the intriguing camera angles and the new technology available on the nex-gen consoles which can create previously impossible lighting (and more importantly, shadow) effects, it can only mean games like this are going to get darker, more realistic and more downright scary.
With the evolution of game music a whole new genre of games has been formed. Music generation. It all started with the Playstation game Music, which allowed you to mix various samples and riffs together to make tunes in a variety of different types and tones. It was a fairly good game considering it was the first of its kind and did well in the charts, meaning the follow up game, originally called Music 2000. This time, it was much more advanced. Codemasters had gained experience from last time and had added many features. It also used the Playstation’s ability to read CD’s and you could record bits from CD’s for your own tracks. You could change the riffs in a variety of ways meaning the tunes were more yours and the game became more popular than the last. The genre has continued on to the PS2 as well, with MTV Music Generator 2, also made by Codemasters. This took music generation a step further with the availability of a Sampler Kit, where you could record your own voice on to your tracks, so they had vocals, great for any star in the making. And if music generation wasn’t enough, there is dance games, and even a specially designed mat so groove away or, slightly more likely, look plain silly. Good fun though nonetheless.
Other slightly more adventurous music related games include Rez, where you must shoot down enemies in time with the music to make great tunes, and as you progress, the tunes do as well. Plus there was a game where you controlled a line. And the line had to do certain tasks by going with the music. Excruciatingly simple yet hyper addictive. The progression of game music from being a throw in extra to a whole game is quite a big one. But games don’t need to be about music to have a great soundtrack, as Resident Evil, Zelda and more specifically Final Fantasy demonstrate.
Final Fantasy is a very exciting game, musically. Each character has his or her own theme, each city its own tune and each game its own uniquely enchanting melody. The game music from this series is so good it has been compiled on many an official CD, and gamers still absolutely adore it. The games, already huge and expansive (just like Soundscapes) have now got a reputation for outstanding music, some tense, some fast, some slow, some peaceful. The master composer, Nobuo Uematsu, who has composed the music for every FF game, is a master at his art, and the games just would not be the same without the accompanying tracks. They make a gamer feel like they’re there, in the thick of it, in Balamb Garden, or in the magnificent Golden Saucer. Another game similar to this is Zelda, with a slightly less enthralling score but yet is magnificent in its own way.
Game music has now become essential for so many games. Of course, there are some games where you wish that the music would just shut up (cough cough Super Monkey Ball, Expert, Lvl. 7) and some games where you think the music could be used slightly more often as it’s so good ( Sonic Adventure 2 : Battle, Dr Eggman theme or Pumpkin Hill theme) but then again, some people would argue that it’s just music.
I have to disagree. Game music has become more than a couple of the game developers adding some cheesy voices and bad background music. It has become and essential part of the game, and more importantly, an essential part of gaming culture. With almost all consoles now having some sort of music game (GBA,PS,PS2) it would appear that the music orientated games are becoming ever popular, and more people are understanding that no only can gaming graphics be beautiful …
So can game music.
Thanks for reading.
Resident Evil, first seen on Playstation in the survival-horror genre, has an atmosphere which is created almost entirely by the music in the game. Each scenario has what can only be called “sinister wind” and the noisy silence is only broken by the moans of the undead. The music in this game is so dark and suspicious that even just listening to it with the lights off is enough to scare the weak at the knees. But when the music of this game is mixed with the creaky door sequences, the intriguing camera angles and the new technology available on the nex-gen consoles which can create previously impossible lighting (and more importantly, shadow) effects, it can only mean games like this are going to get darker, more realistic and more downright scary.
With the evolution of game music a whole new genre of games has been formed. Music generation. It all started with the Playstation game Music, which allowed you to mix various samples and riffs together to make tunes in a variety of different types and tones. It was a fairly good game considering it was the first of its kind and did well in the charts, meaning the follow up game, originally called Music 2000. This time, it was much more advanced. Codemasters had gained experience from last time and had added many features. It also used the Playstation’s ability to read CD’s and you could record bits from CD’s for your own tracks. You could change the riffs in a variety of ways meaning the tunes were more yours and the game became more popular than the last. The genre has continued on to the PS2 as well, with MTV Music Generator 2, also made by Codemasters. This took music generation a step further with the availability of a Sampler Kit, where you could record your own voice on to your tracks, so they had vocals, great for any star in the making. And if music generation wasn’t enough, there is dance games, and even a specially designed mat so groove away or, slightly more likely, look plain silly. Good fun though nonetheless.
Other slightly more adventurous music related games include Rez, where you must shoot down enemies in time with the music to make great tunes, and as you progress, the tunes do as well. Plus there was a game where you controlled a line. And the line had to do certain tasks by going with the music. Excruciatingly simple yet hyper addictive. The progression of game music from being a throw in extra to a whole game is quite a big one. But games don’t need to be about music to have a great soundtrack, as Resident Evil, Zelda and more specifically Final Fantasy demonstrate.
Final Fantasy is a very exciting game, musically. Each character has his or her own theme, each city its own tune and each game its own uniquely enchanting melody. The game music from this series is so good it has been compiled on many an official CD, and gamers still absolutely adore it. The games, already huge and expansive (just like Soundscapes) have now got a reputation for outstanding music, some tense, some fast, some slow, some peaceful. The master composer, Nobuo Uematsu, who has composed the music for every FF game, is a master at his art, and the games just would not be the same without the accompanying tracks. They make a gamer feel like they’re there, in the thick of it, in Balamb Garden, or in the magnificent Golden Saucer. Another game similar to this is Zelda, with a slightly less enthralling score but yet is magnificent in its own way.
Game music has now become essential for so many games. Of course, there are some games where you wish that the music would just shut up (cough cough Super Monkey Ball, Expert, Lvl. 7) and some games where you think the music could be used slightly more often as it’s so good ( Sonic Adventure 2 : Battle, Dr Eggman theme or Pumpkin Hill theme) but then again, some people would argue that it’s just music.
I have to disagree. Game music has become more than a couple of the game developers adding some cheesy voices and bad background music. It has become and essential part of the game, and more importantly, an essential part of gaming culture. With almost all consoles now having some sort of music game (GBA,PS,PS2) it would appear that the music orientated games are becoming ever popular, and more people are understanding that no only can gaming graphics be beautiful …
So can game music.
Thanks for reading.
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Are you insane? Some of the best music I've ever heard has come from Nintendo! But then again, by the looks of it, you just another sad who thinks a game is crap because it has cartoony style graphics. I suppose you mock the new look Zelda, and yet happily played the cartoony versions of FF. Given a choice between Cell shaded Zelda and Carmageddon (absolutly dire game) you would probably choose Carmageddon just because it has blood in it and others wouldn't think you were a sissy (well, in your mind anyway). Did you know that the music from Pikmin was released on a CD and has sold over a million copies? And its not even out in europe yet. Every single Nintendo game, be it Mario, Zelda, Advance Wars, Metroid, Pikmin, Yoshi's Island etc have come complete with an absolutly stunning soundtrack that'll be stuck in your head for ages. I'm working through the event mode in SSBM as quick as I can just because I want to unlock the sound test, so I can hear all the amazing music since the NES.
fosbe wrote:
> Xbox has a quality thing about listening to the music on a cd that you
> have ripped on to the hard drive, so you can listen to it in a game!!
Yeah or you could just turn the game music off (leaving sound effects and speech on) and put your stereo on, bloody pointless if you ask me.
> Xbox has a quality thing about listening to the music on a cd that you
> have ripped on to the hard drive, so you can listen to it in a game!!
Yeah or you could just turn the game music off (leaving sound effects and speech on) and put your stereo on, bloody pointless if you ask me.
I need a mixer, so I can do 60 laps of Grand Valley in a Viper GTS-R without pitting (yes, I have!) to the sound of Iron Maiden and Blind Guardian. I NEED that mixer...
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