Music. Music is the art form of sound which is enjoyed throughout the entire world, and perhaps even beyond it. The true definition of what constitutes music has been debated for years and years with no resolve, but I personally consider it to be any audible sound which results in the enjoyment of a listener. This means that the definition of music changes depending on the person. While what one considers music changes from person to person, few would argue the fact that gaming has brought us some truly amazing soundtracks year after year. From Kondo to Uematsu, from O’Donnell to Tallarico, gaming has been blessed with a number of outstanding composers. Why is it then, that it still remains one of the most overlooked features in a game? How often do you hear “Yeah I thought the bgm on the 5th stage was some of the best stuff I’ve heard in years” in casual gaming conversation, compared to “The detail in that level was outstanding, very easy on the eyes”? This is more than just bleeps and bloops, this is music in gaming.
Video game music in current times is on par with most of, if not more than, what one would hear while watching a Hollywood blockbuster. Yet gaming’s most respected soundtracks are still not recognized on the same level that film scores are. Take the Academy Awards for example, the Academy Awards are presented by the AMPAS in order to recognize significant accomplishments by those in the film industry. There are currently 4 sound related Academy Awards handed out annually (Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing), and two previous awards which have been retired (Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Score – Adaptation or Treatment). Now compare this to any gaming-related award ceremonies. Out of the all the different award-giving organizations researched only three had at least one sound related award and one previously gave out an award shared by graphics and sound which has been since been retired. As you can see this lack of interest is not just due to the ignorance of outsiders who focus on controversy or the advances of casual gameplay/hardware, but is also perpetuated by the gaming community itself. For another example, let’s turn to reviews. Based on reviews the recently released RPG Dragon Age: Origins, only 3 out of 10 sites have more than one sentence discussing the game’s sound. Do these reviewers not believe the music of a video game is important enough?
Allow me to address those of you who may indeed consider the soundtrack of a game to be an “unimportant” factor. To have an opinion on how one aspect of a game is more important than another is a natural preference that we have no control over (perhaps not entirely once you factor in the influence of media among other things, but that’s a different editorial altogether) and that is fine, but to consider the music and sound featured in a game to be unimportant is absolutely ludicrous. A Nobuo Uematsu soundtrack alone is sometimes enough to drive a player to complete a game just to be able to hear every single breathtaking track, or just the right song in a Tony Hawk game can cause the player to perform much better than they were when said song was not playing. Take Final Fantasy X-2 for example, Final Fantasy X-2 was absolutely loathed by many fans for being unfaithful to what Final Fantasy was, for its trivial mini-games, and for its ridiculously bubbly and sexist “girls will like this game because they are all like this” approach. That being said, the track “Eternity ~ Memories of Lightwaves”, which plays should the start menu be left alone without any button input, was all it took to spark the inspiration within me to continue playing. After being sickened by the characters and disheartened by the storyline all I needed to do was go to back and listen to that song. I eventually finished the game, but I still hate it to this day.
To scold the industry for it’s negligence concerning music is not the purpose of this editorial. I do realize that video game music has become more and more acknowledged recently due to the wonderful work done by Video Games Live, OverClocked Remix, and even the explosion of music-sims we’ve seen as of late. My goal is to simply raise awareness concerning these beautiful works of art within works of art and have music in gaming taken much more seriously. We’ve come a long way since Space Invaders and Donkey Kong and many strides have been taken at this point, but that doesn’t mean the marathon is over yet.
A good read.
I second that Spenny. Alot of the games I play. I get so amazed by the visuals that I overlook the music in a game. Im sure thats with other gamers. They be like “Did you just see want happened dude. I just ripped his face off.” Or something like that. To think about it music in a game has alot to do with the game. So the game im waiting for a good soundtrack would be GOD OF WAR 3 Ultimate edition. It comes with all the music works in the first 2 games on voucher or disc and it comes with Heavy Metal inspired soundtrack thats is going to be sick cant wait. Good job Chad B. this kind of content keeps me coming back to Thebitbag.
Thanks, both of you. I second the God of War III comment bcbape, the fact that Dream Theater are composing a song for it alone is enough to make me anxious.
I’m an avid listener to game soundtracks. I can feel your pain. But I think I remember watching a video interview or reading an article somewhere that stated that game composers have done their job correctly when someone doesn’t really notice that the game music is there. It’s almost like what jack black says in his brutal legends game about being a roadie; the fact that they’ve done their job smoothly when no one notices the roadie. This is why people don’t really say anything about the soundtracks. The music should really draw the person into the game at a sub-conscious level. Horrible audio in a game can really be a turn off for players, bore them to death and will have them rapidly sell their game back to gameSlut. But the final fantasy concert series’, which went around the world and sold out globally, is proof that the fans (the most important people) really do care about the music. This small fact, I think, is better than any silly grammy or oscar that any composer out there will receive.
You made good points which caused me to reflect on the subject a bit more. The Final Fantasy series music is appreciated worldwide, yet the majority of the music found in that series is the opposite of the type of music you mentioned previously. Uematsu’s (and others) scores are all comprised of very noticeable and memorable tracks that stay with you long after you set the controller down, rather than make it seem as if there is no music present at all.
Listening to ‘Eternity ~ Memories of Lightwaves’ right now. Good editorial!