Let’s talk about music.

Very few people can deny that the music selection in games is memorable. Be it Final Fantasy 7’s Aerith’s Theme or One Winged Angel to chords that carry on through the ages (Who doesn’t recognize the theme of games like Mario? — don’t answer that; if such people exist, I’d rather not know.), music from games is a big deal. How else would you know when something ominous is fixing to happen, or when you’re entering some kind of dark lair? Or a battle sequence? Music sets the mood and the atmosphere. Fast-paced battle sequence music, loud sounds to signify you’ve managed to crit, or the theme songs of the central character that plays whenever a key point in their development is occurring. It’s all essential to the gaming experience…

… Or is it?

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I’ve Got the Music in Me!

Always wanted to be a musician but didn’t want to put any time and effort in; let alone drop lots of money on equipment? Well if you’ve been paying attention to trends in video games these past few years then you already know you don’t have to do all that anymore! Guitar Hero broke the mold on music in games, while other series like Gitaroo Man, Dance Dance Revolution, and Parappa The Rappa starting the genre in years prior.

While we all remember Parappa The Rappa and most of us still play Dance Dance Revolution, it’s amazing to see just how far a genre has come in just a few short years. No one expected the little known company RedOctane to partner up with Harmonix and recreate a genre that was already seen as amazing leaps and bounds ahead of it’s time. With millions of copies sold Guitar Hero, and it’s sequels, became an instant hit among all types of gamers. Encouraging gamers to get up and play was a major draw in for most. Guitar Hero was on top of the world, but it was short lived because if there is one, there will always be a second.

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8-bit Medley to Digital Orchestrated Overtures

While graphics have been a focus and more so a hot button for the industry these days, music in video games has always been an important aspect for setting a tone for the story and gameplay.  While many people take the music in games of today for granted, back when the Atari 2600 was popular, it was only able to generate two tones (notes) at a time, with very few exceptions.  A good awakening for those of you who have thoughts about whether music is as important to games as graphics are in these days, imagine the Final Fantasy series without the victory music.

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Hand over the audio

I’m not just another music-lover. I’m a lifelong musican and composer. So the thought that anyone would voluntarily exclude the music and sound effects from games he or she plays is unbelievable.

Yet countless gamers do just that. They mute games so they can listen to the TV or radio. They replace game soundtracks with their favorite rock or pop .mp3 files. I remember when Vanguard: Saga of Heroes composer Todd Masten asked the fan community what it would take for them to keep the music on. More than one person replied that no quality of music or anti-redundancy mechanism would ever prevent that player from turning to his or her CD collection. They want variety, and they want music that’s personally relevant.

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