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:
“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)
“We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past—the portrayals of family life on such television programs as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” and all the rest.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)
“I have a notion that gamblers are as happy as most people, being always excited; women, wine, fame, the table, even ambition, sate now & then, but every turn of the card & cast of the dice keeps the gambler alive—besides one can game ten times longer than one can do any thing else.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“A man in all the world’s new fashion planted,
That hath a mint of phrases in his brain.
One who the music of his own vain tongue
Doth ravish like enchanting harmony.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)