Video game music refers to any of the musical pieces or soundtracks and background musics found in video games. It can range from a simple synthesizer tune to an orchestral piece, usually such that the older the game, the simpler the music. Music can also be an important gameplay element in certain types of video games (like rhythm games). Beginning in the fifth generation, video game music began to be more complex, and with the sixth generation and continuing with the seventh, video games have complex soundtracks similar to the film scores of movies, and sometimes even interactive soundtracks which change based on player input in order to create an appropriate atmosphere. The complexity of the music improved to the point where the score of a video game became almost indistinguishable from the music played in the finest concert halls. As musical capabilities of consoles increased, big names signed on with Trent Reznor composing music for Quake and Hans Zimmer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, among many others. Conversely, game composers crossed over: Michael Giacchino made his name with the Medal of Honor series, and went on to compose the music for both the Alias and Lost television series, and the film Star Trek released in 2009. Beginning in the early 2000s, it became increasingly common for video game soundtracks to be commercially sold or performed in concerts that focus on video game music.
Read more about Video Game Music: Game Music As A Genre, Video Game Music Outside Video Games, Video Game Music Education, Awards, Fan Culture
Famous quotes containing the words video game, video, game and/or music:
“I recently learned something quite interesting about video games. Many young people have developed incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination in playing these games. The air force believes these kids will be our outstanding pilots should they fly our jets.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
“The notion that the public accepts or rejects anything in modern art ... is merely romantic fiction.... The game is completed and the trophies distributed long before the public knows what has happened.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)
“I used to be angry all the time and I’d sit there weaving my anger. Now I’m not angry. I sit there hearing the sounds outside, the sounds in the room, the sounds of the treadles and heddles—a music of my own making.”
—Bhakti Ziek (b. c. 1946)